Ex-CIA official pleads guilty to $193.6 million fraud scheme

David Rush, 49, a former senior CIA official with top-secret clearance, pleaded guilty Tuesday to wire fraud in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. Prosecutors said he invented fictitious government authorities, including a fake Special Access Program, to divert about $193.6 million, directing $145 million in wire transfers toward luxury homes, watches and cars, and using other funds to buy 298 gold bars, worth roughly $46 million according to prosecutors.