WASHINGTON — David J. Rush, a former senior CIA official, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Virginia to one count of wire fraud, admitting to a scheme prosecutors say exploited his government position and funds for personal gain. Court records say Rush, 49, directed about $145 million to a holding company he established and used some of the money to buy four luxury properties in Palm Beach and Hobe Sound, Florida. Prosecutors also said he invented a purported classified government program to justify the real-estate purchases and a separate bogus government activity to obtain hundreds of gold bars. The Justice Department estimates Rush’s conduct caused the federal government roughly $194 million in losses, including more than $1.8 million for private flights he authorized for personal use. Prosecutors previously alleged that about $46 million in gold bars was kept at his Ashburn, Virginia, home. Investigators who searched the home in May seized approximately 300 gold bars, about $2 million in cash and roughly 35 luxury watches, according to an FBI affidavit. Rush also directed someone to transfer about $145 million to the holding company and, several months ago, tried to fraudulently authorize the release of another $100 million from a government contract, Tuesday’s filing says. The filing also says Rush told investigators he had given a foreign government official information identifying a secret U.S. government source. It does not name the country involved. Wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff is scheduled to sentence Rush on Jan. 28 in Alexandria. CIA Director John Ratcliffe said the agency referred the matter to the FBI after an internal investigation uncovered evidence of wrongdoing. Attorney General Todd Blanche said federal employees are entrusted with serving the public, not themselves. Rush’s attorney, Jessica Carmichael, previously argued that the gold bars were properly obtained and were not central to the initial charges. At a June hearing, she called their discovery “basically a nonissue” and said Rush had kept them locked in a basement safe. “Mr. Rush never claimed they were his,” she said. Carmichael declined to comment after Tuesday’s plea. Prosecutors also accused Rush of misrepresenting his military and academic credentials, claiming he had been a Navy pilot and earned degrees from Clemson University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Investigators said he did not attend either school or serve as a Navy pilot. He enlisted in the Navy in 1997 and was honorably discharged from the Navy Reserve as a lieutenant in 2015, according to the FBI affidavit.