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FBI agent charged with stealing $1M in crypto from adversary wallets
FBI agent Patrick Yaroch used top-secret clearance to steal $1M in crypto from adversary wallets. He confessed, was arrested, and the case is raising questions about how US agencies hold seized digital assets.
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The FBI has arrested one of its own employees, Patrick Steven Yaroch, on charges that he stole roughly $1 million in cryptocurrency from wallets the bureau was monitoring. The wallets belonged to foreign adversaries, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Yaroch held top-secret clearance and worked in national security and counterintelligence. Court documents say he used his access to FBI intelligence systems to obtain passphrases for the targeted wallets. Between late 2024 and his arrest, he moved the digital assets through 10 to 12 transactions.
The scheme unraveled on July 28, when Yaroch confessed to a colleague. A search of his Ashburn, Virginia, residence on Aug. 3 recovered $925,426.07 from his wallets and accounts. The FBI terminated and arrested him the same day.