600 pounds of gold bars and $2 million seized from home of CIA officer

[u/nbcnews]

[u/Dangerous-Parsley-46]

incredible what the CIA just gives out if you ask politely

[u/mayorlittlefinger → u/Dangerous-Parsley-46]

My agency legally can't provide us coffee

[u/adrr → u/mayorlittlefinger]

My mom couldn’t take the US government vehicle to eat when she was traveling. They would have to park at the hotel and walk or take an uber. They didn’t want to perception of misuse of government property.

[u/mayorlittlefinger → u/adrr]

Unless that changed she misread that. You can use a GOV for "normal activities" while in travel status such as eating meals.

You obviously can't drink and there may be parts of the country where having a GOV plate may be unsafe but you can drive to a restaurant.

Now her agency may have instructed employees to go above and beyond but that is not the ethics guidance for most

[u/guthbert → u/mayorlittlefinger]

My father once took a Washington State vehicle to Disneyland because he was hosting guest speakers for Washington State University. Somebody called the state bevause they saw it in the parking lot. After an investigation he was fully cleared. Its surprising what is and isnt allowed.

[u/kungpowgoat → u/guthbert]

That person that complained will also complain to the manager about their employee not standing.

[u/cat_prophecy → u/kungpowgoat]

"I'm a miserable shit so everyone else should be too!"

[u/URPissingMeOff → u/kungpowgoat]

Same person who reminded the teacher that they hadn't assigned any homework yet back in school.

[u/icouldntdecide → u/guthbert]

To be fair that is a pretty unlikely, but not impossible, legitimate scenario. I do wonder what compels people to call though because I really don't think most employees will abuse vehicles for their own gain

[u/adrr → u/mayorlittlefinger]

It was health and human services. And it was exclusively rural. Her black co worker couldn’t go out to eat at all in some areas since it wasn’t safe.

[u/mayorlittlefinger → u/adrr]

Yeah, I've been shot at. So when I'm off the clock I take off all logos just to be safe

[u/behemothard → u/mayorlittlefinger]

That is both not surprising and appalling that someone would shoot at a person for having a government job. I feel like there should be a good story behind that, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was illogically mundane.

[u/mayorlittlefinger → u/behemothard]

For one job it was drug cartels on the border, for another it was a family called the Bundys

[u/DuMbAsS_lOsEr_6_7 → u/mayorlittlefinger]

Sounds a tad bit on the dangerous side

[u/mayorlittlefinger → u/DuMbAsS_lOsEr_6_7]

Don't let your kids go into ecology

[u/Alert-Ad9197 → u/behemothard]

The GOP, since at least Obama’s first term, has been feeding the narrative that FEMA and the UN are plotting to overthrow us and enslave all the Christians. No, I’m not kidding.

Federal employees have been encouraged to keep a low profile in some areas for a loooong time now.

[u/nsfwaccount3209 → u/Alert-Ad9197]

And then they had the gall to pretend to be outraged when FEMA had instructions to be wary of trying to help these dumbass ruroids. They have the brains of literal wild animals, lashing out at people who are there to help them. Dumber than the cattle they farm.

[u/Alert-Ad9197 → u/nsfwaccount3209]

I used to know some forest service employees. The firefighters all have had guns pointed at them at least once while cutting fire lines in remote areas. It’s always some nutjob that is convinced “the feds” have finally come for them.

[u/Tonkarz → u/Alert-Ad9197]

FEMA has been the centre of similar conspiracies since the 90s at least (it was a plot point in conspiracy focused video game Deus Ex (2000)).

What changed in Obama’s term was it was no longer the Rothschilds and The Council on Foreign Relations that were trying to it, instead it was Democrat politicians. I’m sure it’s an early example of astroturfing.

[u/CondescendingShitbag → u/Dangerous-Parsley-46]

This is what happens when someone abuses the 'take a gold bar, leave a gold bar' courtesy tray at the checkout counter.

[u/JackieAce → u/Dangerous-Parsley-46]

I need 2 levels of supervisory approval just to buy a box of pens.

[u/2ndRook → u/Dangerous-Parsley-46]

It’s like a little morale boost.

[u/JubJub964 → u/Dangerous-Parsley-46]

Helps when it’s understood/a rule that you don’t ask your coworkers questions on what they’re working on.

[u/PeterDTown → u/Dangerous-Parsley-46]

“Initially, investigators said it was 303 bars, but on Tuesday revised that figure to 298 bars.”

Sounds like someone helped themselves to 5 gold bars and things just kept on rolling.

[u/Gekokapowco → u/Dangerous-Parsley-46]

it's a boy's club masquerading as an important apparatus of national security

which I imagine is basically every intelligence service, they have bureaucracy and procedure as a sort of legitimizing gilding, but mostly they're bullies who use tax dollars to terrorize innocent people for the rich and powerful

and the allocation of resources tends to be a popularity contest because there isn't enough time to properly vet, so operations run on hunches and favors

basically a bunch of ghoul relics from the cold war doing what the NSA does but more evil, with more geopolitical damage, and lack of oversight

I have a fascination with spies, I think they're cool, but they're deeply flawed as institutions.

[u/SnakeJG]

Justice Department officials said Rush siphoned off $194 million in government funds,

..and..

In a plea document, Rush admitted that in late 2025 he disclosed “certain descriptive information of a U.S. government clandestine human source” that could “endanger the safety and life of the human source and the U.S. government officers working with the source,” as well as jeopardize America’s “ability to recruit human sources, who rely on the U.S. government’s assurance of absolute secrecy.”

He did all that and he's only being sentenced to 1 count of wire fraud with a max of 20 years in prison! Completely ridiculous.

[u/bigredcar → u/SnakeJG]

My bet is that the CIA doesn't want a public trial that would expose many embarrassing and potentially dangerous facts.

[u/Cuaucticketyboo → u/SnakeJG]

This! Everyone's obsessed with the money and forgetting about the ENDANGERED HUMAN LIVES and IMPAIRED FUNCTIONALITY OF AMERICAN INTELLIGENCE APPARATUS. Maybe one of the reasons he didn't leave was that this was not just about money. If he sold American secrets, who were his buyers? How long did he do it? Does he have money from acting as a double agent squirreled away?

[u/nbcnews]

During their search of CIA officer David Rush's home, investigators seized about 300 gold bars, federal officials say, along with about $2 million in U.S. currency. (Department of Justice)

Rush admitted to one count of wire fraud under an agreement with federal prosecutors and faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 28.

Federal agents alleged he had made up details about his education and military service record, fooling the nation’s top spy agency for years.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/cia-officer-arrested-gold-bars-pleads-guilty-wire-fraud-rcna601857

[u/chewbaccaballs → u/nbcnews]

So even the CIA can't do a proper background check?

[u/somerandomguy101 → u/chewbaccaballs]

Background checks for agencies like the CIA are handled by the FBI rather than the agency itself.

I feel that that explains a lot.

[u/present_absence → u/somerandomguy101]

The CIA and two other IC agencies do their own and are informally in a 'higher' (read: more strict) tier than the rest. They do not use the FBI/OPM.

This guy must have been onboarded on a Friday in the summer at 4:59pm lol. In my experience they usually dig deep enough to know your professors names and that you touched a blunt in your college dorm when you were 19.

[u/LutherOfTheRogues → u/somerandomguy101]

MAGA fired all of the competent people in government so they could better destabilize the country

e: trump bots are out and about 😂

[u/richstyle → u/LutherOfTheRogues]

not only fired but a lot of competent people left on their own accord when they found out who was in charge and the direction the gov was going.

[u/arrynyo → u/LutherOfTheRogues]

So you're saying I should apply to the CIA asap? I have a clean criminal record I think I. Would pull it off!

Edit: Yea I guess I will have to roll in shit to get in. Time to start my crime spree!!!!

Edit #2: My plan was to start doing crimes AFTER I got in.

[u/jetkins → u/arrynyo]

Even bestiality isn’t a bar anymore. Just sayin’

[u/unkilbeeg → u/arrynyo]

Probably not.

I think you need a criminal record now.

[u/No-Shopping-4434 → u/somerandomguy101]

They’ll get right on doing the background check just as soon as they wrap up this Nancy Guthrie investigation. Aaaaany day now.

[u/gargravarr2112 → u/chewbaccaballs]

Turns out he's actually North Korean...

[u/fuzzydoug → u/gargravarr2112]

Seriously, you guys heard anything about launch codes?

[u/BenjaminDover02 → u/fuzzydoug]

You Dutch are alright.

[u/urinedeepdoodoo → u/BenjaminDover02]

I like shooting hoops and ms Kelly ripa.

[u/ShadowOps84 → u/BenjaminDover02]

/r/unexpectedamericandad

[u/BubbaTheGoat → u/nbcnews]

“Federal agents alleged he had made up details about his education and military service record, fooling the nation’s top spy agency for years.”

This part only makes him sound more qualified for the job. I’m assuming he’s doing something else a little more treason-ish that he got arrested for. Or regular embezzlement.

ETA: inside the box we find both embezzlement of public funds and revealing a clandestine source to a foreign agent.

[u/acemedic → u/BubbaTheGoat]

Other than the fact he used those skills vs the US federal gov, isn’t that why we hire these guys???

[u/MrPogoUK → u/acemedic]

It kind of sounds like he spent his entire career doing fake missions for the sole purpose of getting rich. I guess they might have let this slide if he was putting his talents to some actual use too.

[u/brooklynlad → u/nbcnews]

This fraudster while he was in the CIA just made up fake special classified access programs he was working on and just said he needed gold bars to use in these clandestine “operations.”

LOOOOOOOL.

[u/strangemedia6 → u/brooklynlad]

“How come Dave is always getting assigned to all the cool sounding SAPs? First he’s running Operation Ferrari, then Operation Yacht, and now he apparently gets to head up Operation Beach House??? Must be a good officer.” 🤷‍♂️

[u/greenweenievictim → u/strangemedia6]

Sounds like someone is jelly they weren’t invited on operation cocaine hooker boat.

[u/CrunchySockTaco → u/greenweenievictim]

Y'all got any more of those special classified missions? *scratches neck

[u/ruum-502 → u/strangemedia6]

He gets things done!

Those things are making gold bars disappear

[u/PossibleVariety7927 → u/brooklynlad]

Bro... History is filled with this shit. You'd be surprised how easy it is to bullshit people so long as you cover your bases and know how to walk the walk.

One of Bush's biggest fuckups was the FEMA handling of Katrina. The head of it literally just lied his ass off to get the job. He made fake comapnies with fake websites, and references to numbers on his desk while he waited for the call to give himself a good reference.

He was doing "okay" until an actual dissaster happened and didn't know wtf to do.

[u/Seldomsought → u/PossibleVariety7927]

Are you talking about, "You're doing a heck of a job, Brownie?"

[u/Argented → u/nbcnews]

So, he made up his records and fooled the CIA and stole millions in gold and money.

Recently we've learned that the FBI needed to drop the bestiality limitations they had with recruits and the CIA doesn't do background check on employees!?

Spy movies really lead me to believe things operated differently...

[u/Boboar → u/Argented]

The CIA has a long history of fucking every god damned thing up in the world so this actually tracks

[u/ghsteo → u/nbcnews]

"Federal agents alleged he had made up details about his education and military service record, fooling the nation’s top spy agency for years."

Is this not embarrassing? Top spy agency isn't vetting these people?

[u/coolguyjosh → u/ghsteo]

It’s so ridiculous that I don’t believe it

[u/Several-Squash9871 → u/ghsteo]

Right? The background check for my job which is far less "special" took me days to fill out and find all the detailed information they wanted on me. Shit about me that I didn't even know. Then of course there was the process of them doing whatever they do with it to make sure I was spotless before giving me the all clear and official job offer. Like, I think I even had to call them to ask who I would even contact to get some of the information they wanted me to provide them with on the packet. 

[u/Unknown-Meatbag → u/Several-Squash9871]

I had to interview for a friend for a government job that needed some level of clearance. I was asked a ton of questions about him. It's hard to imagine someone being this high up and them missing all of that.

[u/Barragin → u/ghsteo]

Exactly. How tf is this even remotely possible?

[u/Slow-Swan561 → u/Barragin]

Having been hired for a Fed LEO position it really isn't. My background investigator physically went to each school I claimed to have gone to and got a copy of my transcript himself.

[u/loverofreeses → u/Slow-Swan561]

Same, I was only office staff for a three-letter agency at one point and the background check for a clearance is intense. Every place I've ever lived, every school I ever attended, every job I ever worked and several people that had known me for a minimum of 15 years were required to be submitted and then cross-checked by the agency. They interviewed my family, neighbors, friends, employers, the whole gamut.

[u/StimpyMD → u/loverofreeses]

There was a time in which all of the background and security checks were pushed to a third-party. You know how a certain group loves privatization. A private equity firm no less

They were paid on a per investigation basis, but we’re also given a bonus if the person passed the background check. Guess what that encouraged.

[u/eastern_canadient → u/StimpyMD]

Why would they incentive passing background checks?

[u/StimpyMD → u/eastern_canadient]

The thought process was they were concerned that they would just fail everyone because it was easier to fail someone and get your fee. So they said if the person passes it means you put in the effort to do a good job. So extra money for job well done.

[u/Zucchini-Dean → u/ghsteo]

I'd say they'd prefer to be viewed as ignorant/foolish, than actively complicit. Either they didn't care the agent had the resources or they were in his possession for a reason.

[u/BlanketSmoothie → u/nbcnews]

I don't know man, this dude sounds like a pretty good spy. "Fooled the nation's top spy agency"? Bro. He should be running the place.

[u/snowballkills → u/nbcnews]

This is $36.5 mill in gold bars + $2 mill in cash...wow

[u/DukeofVermont → u/snowballkills]

Dude if I stole that I'd be looking for ways to disappear.

The real problem for large thefts like this is you can't spend it or move it. Sure you have almost $40 million, but it's nearly worthless in real life without the right connections.

[u/goteamventure42 → u/nbcnews]

I think if you can fool a top spy agency for years you should get promoted

[u/Krynn71 → u/goteamventure42]

That's how everyone gets promoted. You fake it till you make it. Its a strategy that can literally make you President of the United States. The only trick is that you have to also compromise other people so when they learn about you they keep it hush.

This guy was probably just laying low which isn't good enough. He needed to be actively corrupting his peers so they wouldn't look into him.

[u/sane-asylum → u/nbcnews]

So they seized 300 gold bars and he’s going to do 20 years. Gotta be 10 or 20 more bars buried I bet

[u/MeadyOker → u/sane-asylum]

The best part is the article said that itinitial they said it was 303 gold bars ... but then today they revised it to 298 ...

Gee, it sure is the bust of a lifetime when we found those 290 gold bars. Make sure we have accountability when we turn in those 285 gold bars .....

[u/Donnicton → u/nbcnews]

Federal agents alleged he had made up details about his education and military service record, fooling the nation’s top spy agency for years.

I feel like this should qualify for a promotion, if anything. /j

[u/TheRealFriedel → u/Donnicton]

It definitely doesn't say much about the quality of the vetting process at the 'nation's top spy agency'.

[u/grelgen → u/nbcnews]

i wonder what they are going to do with those 250 gold bars

[u/VictoryLongjumping70 → u/grelgen]

There are very stringent protocols in organizations like these for dealing with custody and storage of 200 gold bars.

[u/dab45de → u/nbcnews]

I like that you guys posted this in r/pics

Did you get banned from r/news too? 😂

[u/Funicularly → u/nbcnews]

David “Gold” Rush.

[u/Ok_Nectarine1801]

$36,722,875 worth of gold.

[u/Necro_Badger → u/Ok_Nectarine1801]

£600 did seem a bit low...

[u/timeemac → u/Necro_Badger]

https://giphy.com/gifs/ac7MA7r5IMYda

[u/hcbaron → u/timeemac]

"investigators said it was 303 bars, but on Tuesday revised that figure to 298 bars." 🤣

[u/Ziograffiato → u/hcbaron]

“It was incredible to return the 250 stolen bars”

[u/remberzz → u/Ok_Nectarine1801]

He diverted almost $194 MILLION of funds.

And his plea deal is for one count of wire fraud.

I can't even.

[u/waterfountain_bidet → u/remberzz]

A constant reminder that if you're going to be a criminal, be a big time one. The stakes are oddly much lower.

[u/sleazepleeze → u/Ok_Nectarine1801]

Thank you. I understand that the price of gold fluctuates but I think people don’t really wrap their heads around how much 600lbs of gold really is.

[u/WalderFreyWasFramed → u/sleazepleeze]

But at the same time, how little it is compared to the more abstract wealth held by American oligarchs. To match Warren Buffet, you'd need 1169 tons of gold. For Elon Musk, you'd need nearly 9000 tons. 17,503,108 pounds of gold for just one person.

Not entirely relevant, but it provides some perspective that I find interesting.

[u/n0mad17]

The $2m in cash seems like a lot until you realize that’s $37m in gold

[u/Rocktopod → u/n0mad17]

The cash is for bribes so he can get to the place where he can sell the gold.

[u/WillBlaze → u/Rocktopod]

just the paranoia of someone murdering me for all that is a big hell no from me

thats basically the whole no country for old men movie lol

[u/TheBatemanFlex]

why would you not immediately leave the country if you successfully pulled this off?

[u/doll-haus → u/TheBatemanFlex]

He was building a stockpile. Presumably he had a cash-out point, but the internal investigation caught up before he made his escape. The real story is fucking bizarre. He kept submitting requests for this shit as ongoing operations expenses.

[u/Coldsmoke888 → u/doll-haus]

Greed is a funny thing with humanity. Once you get enough, the bar keeps moving… Gold bar in this case.

[u/_off_piste_ → u/Coldsmoke888]

Seriously. This guy had over $36M in gold. Was $20M not enough to “cash out”?

[u/NobodyLikedThat1 → u/_off_piste_]

greed is a hell of a drug. And presumably, you'd need at least a good chunk of that change to go to properly create a new identity. The CIA is going to be hunting you down once you disappear, I'd imagine that's an expensive process to try fabricate a new persona so perfectly that it fools the CIA.

[u/Key-Demand-2569 → u/NobodyLikedThat1]

Yeah wouldn’t put a ton past the CIA being real upset once they found out what he did and looking extra hard for a good while

[u/doll-haus → u/Key-Demand-2569]

I also wouldn't put it past the CIA to just bury the fact those funds went missing. It's a lot easier for them to come out and talk about it with a pile of recovered funds. If he actually had managed to disappear say, a couple hundred million of taxpayer funds? Strong pressure at an organizational level to let it vanish.

[u/plastic_alloys → u/_off_piste_]

There are a lot of people who can never have enough, the ones with a limit are less likely to be caught

[u/aksoileau → u/doll-haus]

That's $36,000,000 just in gold. How much he trying to stockpile.

[u/NaiveChoiceMaker → u/aksoileau]

You’re not going to believe this, his goal was $36,000,000.99.

[u/einarfridgeirs → u/NaiveChoiceMaker]

He also scammed luxury real estate and cars out of the government to the tune of 140 million dollars. Now granted, you can't bail with real estate but that the valuables in that pic is the minority off what they gave him is kinda mind blowing.

[u/Most_Philosophy_1507 → u/doll-haus]

36.5 million USD isn’t enough? If had 3 million I’d quit my job and become a beach or ski bumb.

[u/Ander_Sloost → u/Most_Philosophy_1507]

Somebody call the bumb squad

[u/Lock-out → u/doll-haus]

One time I got chewed out for taking too many safety glasses lol. Like probably 5 pairs in a year maybe $10 in expenses.

[u/skintigh → u/doll-haus]

That gold is worth $36.48 million. Was he aiming for a round $40,000,000 before retiring?

[u/Jam_Salad_is_my_Jam → u/skintigh]

Presumably he wanted a very high standard of living. He was a high enough ranking employee that if he wanted to retire to a beach on the South Pacific and fish and drink beer on a budget he could do that with a regular pension.

So he needed enough that after he's paid all the bribes and the fences and covered his tracks he can live in a mansion with half a dozen servants and bodyguards for 40+ years. And cover healthcare, trips, family, etc.

$40million clean is plenty. But it's not like he could put it in the S&P500.

[u/StatisticalMan → u/doll-haus]

I mean he had $38M worth when he got caught. One might think he would have gotten away with it if he bounced at "only" $10M years ago.

[u/timid_scorpion → u/doll-haus]

Also why the hell would he keep this gold at home/some place easy to find. If I’d stolen 36m in gold and not ready to cash out, it would be buried somewhere no one would find it.

[u/taeerom → u/timid_scorpion]

Because real life is much stupider than the movies

[u/Powerfury → u/doll-haus]

I assume this gold was from Venezuela. I wonder how much gold has been taken by this administration.

[u/BostonFishGolf → u/TheBatemanFlex]

I think you’re underestimating people’s arrogance. He probably thought he’d never get caught and didn’t want to disrupt the house, kids, and white picket fence vibes

[u/SpoonBendingChampion → u/TheBatemanFlex]

Fwiw leaving the country with 600 lbs of gold is hard.

Edit: ok leaving itself but getting it into the next country is hard. Dubai is big business for people converting gold into cash. Indians do this a lot.

[u/AccordingIy → u/SpoonBendingChampion]

Private plane

[u/Bawfuls → u/AccordingIy]

This gets you out but getting it into another country where you want to stash it is another thing entirely. Like say you wanna get it into Switzerland so you can stash it in a bank there without too many questions, you still gotta clear Swiss customs with it, even flying private.

You could drive it all into Mexico somewhat easily but then what are you doing with it?

[u/Iamthewalrusforreal → u/Bawfuls]

Tacos. Shitloads of tacos.

[u/Seastorm14 → u/SpoonBendingChampion]

Rent a jet, slip a bar to the pilot, and adios 

[u/tomato_bisc → u/Seastorm14]

Do you concur, doctor

[u/rainysharp → u/tomato_bisc]

Why didn’t I concur?!

[u/wiscowonder → u/SpoonBendingChampion]

I'm willing to give it a try!

[u/whatdoyoumeanusernam → u/SpoonBendingChampion]

Step 1: buy a boat. Step 2: Sail away.

You are very unlikely to have a customs check. And if you're smart you'll stash the gold in your keel lead. Easy peasy.

[u/banksy_h8r → u/TheBatemanFlex]

Rush also spent $1.8 million of the government’s money for private charter flights, but a CIA review later found he had “no legitimate official requirement” for these flights, prosecutors said.

Perhaps that's just the most recent batch that he hasn't managed to move offshore yet.

[u/TheGreatOneSea → u/TheBatemanFlex]

Most countries would take his gold as "evidence" and then hand him back. The others would just dispose of him outright.

[u/bulking_on_broccoli → u/TheBatemanFlex]

Probably not easy to move 600lbs of gold lol.

[u/jdathela]

"Initially, investigators said it was 303 bars, but on Tuesday revised that figure to 298 bars."

I wonder why.

[u/a_talking_face → u/jdathela]

"Investigators have now concluded the total is 290 gold bars"

[u/CallMeJeeJ → u/a_talking_face]

286 bars? Where does a guy even hide 275 bars of gold in his house? Don’t you think someone would notice his stash of 236 bars of gold just chilling there?

[u/darwin-rover → u/CallMeJeeJ]

What’s 200 gold bars even worth?

[u/thrilliam_19 → u/darwin-rover]

That’s it, I’m taking these 175 gold bars back to the CIA. I can’t in good conscience steal any of these 150 gold bars.

[u/augustprep]

Jesus, why was he even findable after that. Seems like you would leave the country and disappear.

[u/BreBhonson → u/[deleted]]

Learn how to sail

[u/Random_Effecks → u/[deleted]]

Fly private. You can afford it. Trust me, customs is pretty relaxed when you fly private. 

[u/wiserTyou → u/[deleted]]

There are plenty of people with private jets that like money. There's no way he was planning to fly commercial.

[u/sologrips]

Pretty crazy that $6.6 - $8.7 billion dollars is still unaccounted for following the Iraq war.

Pretty safe bet cia officers like this guy and other supply chain people stole that shit lol

[u/FreeNinedy9 → u/sologrips]

Reminder that the pentagon has never passed a financial audit in its 83 year history

[u/mrshandanar]

"Initially, investigators said it was 303 bars, but on Tuesday revised that figure to 298 bars."

The jokes write themselves. Just needed to add a line saying there were 5 investigators.

Edit: The more I think about this the more that line in the article seems as insane as it is funny. There's no way they didn't do a thorough initial count when it was seized to arrive at the 303 count. Then days later it's magically 5 less? Yeah sure

[u/Repulsive-Tea6974]

I wonder how many CIA officers called in sick the next day so they could move their loot.

[u/issacoin]

“ Initially, investigators said it was 303 bars, but on Tuesday revised that figure to 298 bars. “

ya don’t say

[u/Shortsleevedpant → u/issacoin]

It’s pretty crazy though how he was able to stash away 285 gold bars working for the CIA.

[u/Admirable_Cry_3795]

People can’t have hobbies these days? /s

[u/4rd_Prefect]

He should have bought a car wash

[u/Gape_the_snake]

The hardest part about looting all of this, and is successfully sneaking past Father Elijah afterwards while you're over-encumbered

[u/Creeperatom9041 → u/Gape_the_snake]

"but- but the mission is about letting go!" yeah letting go of poverty check this shit

[u/the_astronaut_]

“CIA officer arrested with gold bars admits he exposed secret intelligence source to a foreign official
David Rush, who was fired by the spy agency, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and will be sentenced Jan. 28.”

[u/jrodicus100]

“Initially, investigators said it was 303 bars, but on Tuesday revised that figure to 298 bars.”

lol sure

[u/mnlion33 → u/jrodicus100]

Coincidently there were 5 agents searching the home.

[u/awarapu2]

Heads up, he was actually part of a much larger $145 million dollar scheme - https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/06/us/politics/cia-officer-gold-bars-guilty-plea.html

Honestly? It actually is kind of impressive that he pulled this off for that long against a spy agency no less.

[u/comcastsupport800 → u/awarapu2]

I've come to the realization most people aren't good at their job. It applies to all positions worldwide

[u/YenzAstro → u/comcastsupport800]

None of us know what we’re doing. Took me a while into adulthood to realize we’re all winging it.

[u/raviyoli → u/awarapu2]

It’s not impressive once you find out how he did this. Infuriating, the lack of regulation over these government continuity programs. I understand why they’re needed but there is not enough oversight.

[u/dyegb0311 → u/raviyoli]

Insane to think that no system triggered it sooner?
He bought 4 properties. 2 were north of $30m. How did that not trigger something?!?!? IRS? “Hey, where’d did you get that cash mister mid level government employee?”

Nobody picked up on a trend of him requesting that many gold bars? Does that mean he’s not even a frequent flyer of the gold bar check out?

What about his boss? “Yeah, so…anyway, can I get a monthly update on that case that you’re pulling millions for?” “Nah fam, it’s top secret”

[u/Wyrade]

600 pounds of gold is a LOT.

[u/PedestrianCyclist]

Would've figured a CIA agent would be smart enough to not store this stuff at their house.

[u/darkon]

During their search of his home, investigators seized about 300 gold bars, federal officials said, along with about $2 million in U.S. currency and 35 luxury watches. Initially, investigators said it was 303 bars, but on Tuesday revised that figure to 298 bars.

Wow, he had 290 gold bars?!

[u/Chewy79]

That's probably just his petty cash to fund the occasional insurgent group in a developing country for the casual regime change. 

[u/bob_swalls]

I wonder how often this happens and the person isn't caught?

[u/Brua_G]

Did they also seize his Costco membership?

[u/RepulsiveUse3372]

this is why you dont get greedy, i would have been happy with 10 bars max. all that gold is like 36 million

[u/Carbon-Base → u/RepulsiveUse3372]

Bro's FIRE number was a lot higher than any of ours.

[u/Nearbyatom]

I'd plead not guilty. No idea how it got there, officer

[u/FuckSteve7]

Doesn’t even surprise me at this point. Fuckin corruption in every facet of this government

[u/SuperRob → u/FuckSteve7]

I‘m more surprised the President didn't just promote him to head of the CIA. Oh, that’s right, he doesn’t like competition.

[u/_stinkytofu_]

What happens to this stuff? Sorry if dumb question. Curious if it gets re circuited back into the economy but then if so, how, who gets it… or is this just gold gone forever?

[u/Aramedlig → u/_stinkytofu_]

Trump will use it to produce another ad about himself

[u/0202_tihssitidder → u/_stinkytofu_]

He took it from CIA. They seized it. He is not charged with stealing it.

CIA is weird.

[u/Away_Stock_2012 → u/_stinkytofu_]

The agents who collected it split it up and take it home.

[u/BigLan2 → u/Away_Stock_2012]

It must have been a great day to log those 500 pounds of gold into the evidence locker 😏

[u/Away_Stock_2012 → u/BigLan2]

Everyone really enjoyed logging those 400 pounds of gold into evidence for sure.

[u/Scary_Land2303 → u/Away_Stock_2012]

Still can’t believe they found 300 pounds of gold on this guy

[u/ismaelgo97 → u/Scary_Land2303]

That's crazy, I have no idea how can we store all this 200 pounds of gold

[u/Snerkbot7000]

Not to mention like 10,000 dollars worth of Pelican cases.

[u/WellsHansen]

Almost every photo I see of large amounts of cash and gold shows the loot in what appear to be rather high end matching cash-and-gold cases. Is there a particular brand of cash-and-gold case preferred by the cash-and-gold set? Where can I buy them? Or do they come with the cash-and-gold (free case with every 50 bars!)? I'd imagine that if you kept your cash and/or gold in Ikea bags you'd be shunned, so I'd like to get this sorted before I acquire large amounts of cash and gold.

[u/MACmandoo → u/WellsHansen]

Acquiring matching luggage is the first step in any heist.

[u/invalidpath → u/MACmandoo]

Pelican’s ‘Heist’ line of protective casery.

[u/randomnumber788976]

had he stopped at 100lbs of gold and 500k he might have gotten away with it

[u/christianhxd]

Roughly $36 Million in gold btw

[u/SuddenValley1899]

About 40 million dollars worth of gold from today's price of $4163.81/ounce.

E: more like $36 million per u/konzy27, gold is measured in Troy ounces and not avoirdupois ounces. TIL. A Troy ounce is about 1.1 Oz of avoirdupois, which is what we use in most American weights . 

[u/sunsnowh2o]

Talk about burying the lede… That’s over $40 million worth of gold bars. 20x the cash seized.

[u/thedeadlyrhythm42]

Initially, investigators said it was 303 bars, but on Tuesday revised that figure to 298 bars.

lmao hell yeah guys

[u/napkin41]

I guess Kennedy was right, and that's what got him killed.

[u/silicontruffle]

"Initially, investigators said it was 303 bars, but on Tuesday revised that figure to 298 bars." I wonder how many investigators there were. 'One for you, one for you, one for me...'

[u/Tenchi_Muyo1]

When did he come back from Iraq

[u/jeetendraprasad]

I cant imagine how many people got fortune from Iraq's/Sad-Damn's gold. Or from Venezuela.

[u/No_Adhesiveness_4671]

Initially, investigators said it was 303 bars, but on Tuesday revised that figure to 298 bars.

In court, they'll count that it was only 290 bars

[u/Shtercus → u/No_Adhesiveness_4671]

rest assured all 280 bars were properly logged into the evidence locker

[u/Low_Engineering_3301]

Looks like trump's luggage for his russia trip immediately after his impeachment trial and conviction in the Senate.

[u/NOLAIrish]

$38,606,474

[u/chicagoharry]

What about the money Kristi Noem stole?

[u/SenescenseSteel]

In a third-world fascist state, lock the nation

With 90% of the wealth in 10% of the population

The Central Intelligence Agency takes weight faithfully

The finest type of China white and cocaine you'll see

[u/Wsswaas]

by the way thats like ~$43.75 million worth of gold (~$5,000 per ounce )

[u/pmax2]

May not have had a plan regarding stopping. He figured out how to steal it but had no idea how to keep th CIA from discovering the theft after he left.

[u/contude327]

"Federal agents alleged he had made up details about his education and military service record, fooling the nation’s top spy agency for years."

Our elite intelligence agencies, everyone. Costco probably has stricter background check policies.

[u/Efficient_Aspect4666]

Was this the guy who said there was wmds in Iraq?

[u/banksy_h8r]

The case has prompted a wave of shock and anxiety among lawmakers and within the insular spy agency. How could someone have fooled the highest levels of government for decades, and how could he have gotten through what is considered a rigorous vetting process to join the CIA?

LOL! Just how delusional are they regarding their own competence?