Ex-CIA official admits faking a secret program to buy $102.6M of Palm Beach and Jupiter Island real estate

David J. Rush, 49, of Ashburn, Va., pleaded guilty on Tuesday, Oct. 6, in federal court in Alexandria, Va., to a scheme to defraud the government through the misuse of his position, a loss the Justice Department puts at about $194 million (Justice Department; minute entry). The release calls him a former federal employee who held a senior executive post “with a federal agency”; in the same release CIA Director John Ratcliffe says the CIA found potential crimes in an internal investigation and “immediately referred this matter to the FBI,” and that “David Rush abused his position and betrayed the public trust” (Justice Department).

The Florida part is in the Statement of Facts Rush signed and agreed is true. In the fall of 2025, it says, he told people that spending he directed was required for a highly classified government program, “SAP #1,” whose stated purpose was buying real property in and around parts of Southern Florida, and SAP #1 “was not a legitimate government program” (Statement of Facts). From about November 2025 to March 2026 he had a government contractor, Company 1, send about $145 million to Holding Company 1, which billed Company 1 for “Consulting” at his direction; a person identified as Individual 4 set up Holding Company 1 because he believed the program was real (Statement of Facts). The money bought four properties, by the court’s approximate table: a Palm Beach house for $21,900,000 in December 2025, a Palm Beach lot for $13,650,000 the same month, a Palm Beach house for $27,000,000 in January 2026 and a parcel in Hobe Sound for $40,000,000 in February 2026, $102,550,000 in all (Statement of Facts; our sum; CBS12).

Your stake: the money was federal money, about $193.6 million of it by the plea’s count (Justice Department; plea agreement). Rush’s plea deal hands each Florida property, or cash in its place, to the government, and what those sales net counts against a forfeiture judgment of at least $193,590,400.69; restitution of at least $195,408,888.24 is a separate obligation, and forfeited money reaches it only if the Justice Department grants a restoration request (plea agreement). What the four houses and lots sell for decides how much the forfeiture recovers.

The money

The plea agreement names the addresses: 311 Polmer Park Rd., 243 Seaspray Ave. and 236 Via Las Brisas in Palm Beach, and 511 South Beach Road on Jupiter Island, each forfeited with its improvements “or cash in lieu of.” Rush also forfeits $38,651,314.55 seized from a Bank of America account in the name of 0701 Holdings LLC, two 2026 BMW Alpina XB7s, gold bars, seized cash and euros, and watches (plea agreement). When the scheme was uncovered in May 2026, about $39 million remained in the Holding Company 1 account, and about $105 million of the money it received had gone to the South Florida properties, luxury vehicles and related expenses, among other items (Statement of Facts).

All four properties are now for sale, according to listings reported by The Real Deal on Oct. 14 and by USA TODAY and the Palm Beach Daily News on Oct. 7. The asking prices are $32.995 million for the Polmer Park Road house, $22.9 million for the Via Las Brisas house, $13.9 million for the 0.32-acre Seaspray lot and $43.5 million for the 4.1-acre Jupiter Island lot; Via Las Brisas and Seaspray are under contract, and USA TODAY reported Oct. 7 that the Jupiter Island lot also had a buyer waiting in the wings, the MLS shows (The Real Deal; USA TODAY / Palm Beach Daily News). The Jupiter Island listing record now tells a fuller story: listed Aug. 31, about five weeks before the plea, it went pending Sept. 5, came back on the market Sept. 20 and was active as of its Oct. 15 update, at its original $43.5 million ask (MLS listing record). The Real Deal’s Oct. 18 count is “Two of the homes have contracts pending,” and it says the prices Rush paid “are below what they are all asking, though not by much” (The Real Deal, Oct. 18). Those asks total about $113.3 million, about $10.7 million above the $102.55 million purchase total; they are asking prices, not sales, and not profit (our arithmetic). The Polmer Park listing went on the market Sept. 4, 2026, about a month before the plea, under an exclusive right to sell that runs to Aug. 31, 2027, and its $32.995 million ask is unchanged (MLS listing record). All four are listed by Christian Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate, and the listing information does not identify the seller (USA TODAY / Palm Beach Daily News). The Real Deal reported Oct. 18: “Top Palm Beach broker Christian Angle is listing the properties on behalf of the federal government” (The Real Deal, Oct. 18); no court filing, Marshals notice or listing record we could read states it.

Rush planned to resell. He directed material aspects of the purchases and discussed improving and reselling them with Individual 4; on a guesthouse, he called it “super unique and cool” and asked whether buying it would “hamstring us when we’re selling.” In February 2026, when Individual 4 discussed a potential transaction that would net about $15 million on one of the properties, Rush answered, in substance, that he was not letting it go for less than $15 million net (Statement of Facts). Prosecutors allege he intended to resell the properties for a profit, CBS12 reports (CBS12).

The county records show who holds title. The Real Deal reports all the properties are owned by entities registered to West Palm Beach real estate attorney Maura Ziska of Kochman and Ziska, who declined to comment; 0701 Holdings LLC bought the Via Las Brisas house in December 2025 and transferred it in February, with Jon D. Cannizzo of Virginia signing as manager, and Cannizzo did not respond to requests for comment (The Real Deal). USA TODAY, citing county records, says 0701 Holdings paid a recorded $21.9 million for Via Las Brisas, 311 Polmer Park LLC paid a recorded $24.18 million in a deal that closed in January, and 243 Seaspray LLC paid $13.65 million in December (USA TODAY / Palm Beach Daily News). Court documents say people working on Rush’s behalf believed they were part of a legitimate government program (The Real Deal; Statement of Facts). No record we read ties Ziska, Cannizzo, Angle or any broker to the fraud.

The rest of the haul was gold and flights. At Rush’s direction, another company, Company 2, bought 298 gold bars at a cost to his agency of about $46,361,721; on May 19, 2026, the FBI searched his home and recovered all 298, their serial numbers matching, with about $2,106,550 in cash, about 104,795 euros and more than 30 watches, including multiple Rolexes (Statement of Facts; Justice Department). From about Sept. 10, 2024 to May 14, 2026 he authorized dozens of chartered flights, mostly involving Palm Beach, at a total cost of about $1,818,487, travel his agency says had no legitimate official purpose and the government paid for; on one, he flew to Palm Beach with a family member and no other passenger, a round trip the charter company estimated at $95,000 (Statement of Facts).

How it works

Forfeiture and restitution are two different bills. Forfeiture takes the property a crime bought: Rush agreed to a money judgment of at least $193,590,400.69, reduced by what the government nets from the listed assets, and to take every step the government asks to pass it clear title. Restitution repays the victim, here at least $195,408,888.24 to the U.S. government. The plea says they are separate, that Rush gets no credit against restitution for forfeited property, and that forfeited money goes to restitution only if the Justice Department grants a restoration request at its discretion (plea agreement). So a strong sale price shrinks what Rush owes on the forfeiture judgment, and only a separate Justice Department decision moves it toward repaying the loss.

What could still stop it

The numbers do not all match. The court’s table, labeled approximate, puts the Polmer Park house at $27,000,000; The Real Deal reports Palm Beach County property records and a deed show it sold for $24.2 million that January, and USA TODAY gives a recorded $24.18 million (Statement of Facts; The Real Deal; USA TODAY / Palm Beach Daily News). The gap, about $2.82 million by our arithmetic, is not explained by the records cited here; the court’s $105 million spending line includes “associated expenses,” and the gap is not evidence of wrongdoing by anyone (Statement of Facts; our arithmetic). The Real Deal rounds the Seaspray price to $13.7 million; the court table and county records give $13.65 million (Statement of Facts; USA TODAY / Palm Beach Daily News).

The seller is reported, not recorded. The Real Deal reports Angle lists the properties on behalf of the federal government; the listings themselves do not name a seller, and no court filing or Marshals notice we could read shows who signed the listings or who holds title now (The Real Deal, Oct. 18; USA TODAY / Palm Beach Daily News). The newest filing on the public court archive, dated Oct. 6, admits a Washington lawyer to represent Rush; we found no public forfeiture order, interlocutory sale order or Marshals sale notice, and the full docket needs PACER (CourtListener, Doc. 42). Angle, whom The Real Deal says was ranked last year as Palm Beach County’s top broker by transaction volume, told The Real Deal he was not involved in buying the properties and otherwise declined to comment; USA TODAY says he did not respond to its request (The Real Deal; USA TODAY / Palm Beach Daily News). Michael Costello of Compass Florida, who represented Rush in buying the three Palm Beach properties, did not immediately respond to USA TODAY (USA TODAY / Palm Beach Daily News).

The plea also covers secrets. The Statement of Facts says that in late 2025 Rush revealed to a foreign government official the existence of a U.S. clandestine human source, information classified Top Secret, and admitted it to his agency on April 28, 2026 (Statement of Facts). The Justice Department says he reached his position partly by lying about his education and military experience, and that its investigation is continuing (Justice Department). NBC News reported Sept. 25, before the plea, that the intelligence community’s inspector general is investigating how the CIA appears to have missed those lies, according to a U.S. official and a person familiar with the probe (NBC News).

Why it matters across Florida

A buyer with $145 million of government money closed four Palm Beach-area deals in about three months, through LLCs and entities registered to an attorney, and the public learned whose money it was from a federal plea (Statement of Facts; The Real Deal). For owners on Palm Beach and Jupiter Island, the four sales will become comps for their own houses and lots.

What to watch

Rush’s sentencing, set for Jan. 28, 2027, at 10 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff; the charge carries up to 20 years (minute entry; Justice Department). Whether the two contracts close, and at what prices. Whether a forfeiture or sale order appears on the docket, and who signs the deeds. The final forfeiture order. The Justice Department’s continuing investigation.

Correction

Correction, Oct. 19, 2026: An earlier version of this story said the Polmer Park Road listing went on the market Sept. 3, 2026. Its listing record shows a listing contract and on-market date of Sept. 4, 2026 (MLS listing record, Brickellsold).