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Ex-FBI agent pleads guilty to stealing $2.5 million in crypto
BleepingComputer, citing U.S. court papers and the Justice Department, says former FBI agent Patrick Steven Yaroch pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing about $2.47 million in cryptocurrency from wallets tied to bureau cases.
A former FBI agent pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing nearly $2.5 million in cryptocurrency from wallets tied to bureau investigations, BleepingComputer reported, citing court records and the Justice Department1.
Patrick Steven Yaroch, 37, worked on a national security squad at the FBI Boston Division from 2017 to 2025 and as a supervisory special agent in the Counterintelligence and Espionage Division at FBI headquarters from February 2025 to July 2026, the report said1.
He self-reported the thefts to Justice Department National Security Division and FBI headquarters employees on July 29, 2026, was placed on leave that day, arrested at his residence on July 31, and fired the same day, BleepingComputer said1.
In a plea to wire fraud and money laundering, he admitted using passphrases taken from the FBI's case-management systems and another investigative-data platform to move funds from wallets of fraud victims or suspects under investigation into wallets he controlled, then exchanging the coins for other cryptocurrencies, according to court papers summarized by the outlet1.
The Justice Department said he made about 100 transfers using credentials related to 35 FBI investigations and obtained about $2,474,380.66, BleepingComputer reported1. Between Nov. 25, 2025, and Jan. 13, 2026, he moved about $93,082 into one of his accounts and used funds to pay credit cards, a car loan, and other debts, the department said, according to the report1.
Prosecutors said he was planning to move to Portugal in early September with his family, including flight tickets to Lisbon and papers for Portuguese lawyers to obtain a tax identification number, after asking ChatGPT where to live in the European Union, the outlet said1.
The Justice Department said the conduct compromised multiple FBI investigations involving nation-state adversaries and criminal groups, as well as sources and methods used in criminal cases and foreign intelligence collection, BleepingComputer reported1.
Yaroch is scheduled to be sentenced March 4 and faces up to 20 years in prison on each of the two counts, according to the report1. BleepingComputer did not quote a statement from defense counsel1.
