U.S. arrests ex-CIA official with US$40 million in gold at home

In this undated handout photo from Newmont Mining Corporation, gold nuggets and bars are shown. (AP Photo/Newmont Mining)

The United States has arrested a former senior CIA official after a search found US$40 million worth of gold bars at his home.

FBI officers also seized $2 million in cash and around 35 luxury watches this month from the home of David Rush in the U.S. state of Virginia, according to court documents.

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that he was a former senior CIA official, quoting people familiar with the investigation.

An FBI probe found that Rush had provided false information about his education and military background in his job application, including lying about obtaining university degrees and serving as a pilot in the navy.

He also filled out fraudulent time sheets and obtained $77,000 in military leave pay by falsely claiming he was a member of the navy reserves, according to the affidavit.

The document describes Rush as a former senior employee at a U.S. government agency with top secret clearance and access to classified information.

He was arrested on May 19 and charged with theft of government money.

A lawyer for Rush declined to comment to the Times.

From last November to this March, Rush made several requests to his employer for “a significant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for work-related expenses.”

The affidavit says that Rush received the cash and gold, without giving further information on why he needed them.

The gold and most of the cash were later found to be missing from a storage space at the official’s workplace, triggering a search of his home which discovered around 303 gold bars -- worth over $40 million.