Ex-CIA official David Rush pleads guilty to $194M fraud and admits exposing a secret source
He invented classified programs to buy Florida homes and gold bars, and told a foreign official about a US spy.
Rush pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud for faking classified programs that steered $145 million into four Palm Beach and Hobe Sound homes and 298 gold bars. He forfeits about $194 million and faces up to 20 years at sentencing Jan. 28.
The plea filing:
- Per the plea filing, Rush "effectively acted as his own approving official."
- The 298 gold bars seized from his Ashburn, Va., home cost the government $40 million to $46 million, depending on the outlet.
- Plea papers show he gave a foreign official descriptive information about a US clandestine human source.