A former FBI agent has pleaded guilty to stealing about $2.47 million in cryptocurrency by using wallet credentials stored in FBI systems, according to court filings in Alexandria, Virginia. Patrick Steven Yaroch, 37, admitted to wire fraud and money laundering and now faces a possible prison term of up to 20 years.
Prosecutors said the thefts drew on access Yaroch had through his FBI roles and affected wallets tied to 35 separate investigations. The activity allegedly reached subjects of other probes, wallets linked to nation-state actors, and at least one wallet created and controlled by the FBI as part of an operation.
Access inside the bureau
Yaroch worked in the FBI's Boston Division from 2017 until early 2025 on a squad investigating an unnamed adversarial nation state. He later moved to the bureau's Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, where he had access to internal systems that held cryptocurrency credentials collected during investigations.
According to the statement of facts attached to his plea agreement, he began using that access no later than December 2024 to take digital assets from wallets tied to cases outside his own work. The government said the stolen funds came from wallets controlled by investigation subjects, from nation-state actors, and from at least one FBI-operated wallet.
Roughly 100 transfers across 35 cases
Prosecutors said Yaroch carried out about 100 fraudulent transfers using credentials drawn from 35 separate FBI investigations. After taking the crypto, he allegedly swapped the funds into other digital assets and moved them through additional transactions in an effort to conceal where the money came from.
The plea materials also say he used part of the proceeds for personal expenses, including credit card balances, car payments, and other loans. The total amount cited in the case is about $2.47 million.
Plans for a move to Portugal
Court records also describe steps Yaroch took while planning a possible new life overseas. The filings say he asked ChatGPT how to maximize profits from investments and where to live in the European Union.
After the chatbot suggested buying a vineyard in Portugal, Yaroch gave Portuguese lawyers power of attorney so they could obtain a tax identification number for him, according to the case record. He also arranged travel to Portugal in September.
What prosecutors say was put at risk
The government said Yaroch's conduct did more than divert seized or monitored crypto. In the plea agreement's statement of facts, prosecutors said his actions compromised multiple FBI investigations involving criminal groups and nation-state adversaries.
They also said the conduct exposed sources and methods used in foreign intelligence collection. Yaroch is scheduled to be sentenced on March 4, 2027, and the charges to which he pleaded guilty carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Source: decrypt.co