Former Central Intelligence Agency official David Rush, who is accused of stealing more than $40 million and converting the proceeds into gold bars and other valuables, allegedly created a fictitious intelligence program that he used to siphon millions of dollars in government funds for personal gain.

Rush established a fraudulent “special access program,” one of the government’s most tightly controlled classification systems, which restricts oversight from even officials with the highest security clearance, the Washington Post reported. He allegedly falsely presented the project as a highly sensitive continuity-of-government initiative, which is a type of emergency planning designed to ensure the federal government can continue operating during catastrophic events such as a nuclear attack.