Ex-FBI agent pleads guilty to $2.47M crypto theft from 35 investigations
Patrick Yaroch pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering over crypto taken with credentials the FBI collected; sentencing is set for March 4, 2027.
A former FBI agent has pleaded guilty to stealing about $2.47 million in cryptocurrency using wallet credentials the bureau gathered during its own investigations. The Justice Department announced the plea, which Unchained and CryptoSlate dated to Nov. 5. Decrypt described the announcement as coming on a Thursday.
Patrick Steven Yaroch, 37, of Ashburn, Virginia, admitted to wire fraud and money laundering in federal court in Alexandria. According to prosecutors, he made about 100 fraudulent transfers using credentials tied to 35 separate FBI investigations.
How the scheme worked
Prosecutors said Yaroch worked in the FBI's Boston Division from 2017 to early 2025 on a squad investigating an unnamed adversarial nation state. He then moved to the Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, where he could reach FBI systems holding crypto credentials. Decrypt and CryptoSlate both reported that the thefts began no later than December 2024.
The targets included wallets controlled by subjects of other investigations and by nation-state actors. They also included at least one wallet the FBI had set up for an operation. Prosecutors said he swapped the funds into other cryptocurrencies and moved them through further transactions to hide where they came from, and used some of the money on credit cards, car payments and other loans.
Wu Blockchain, citing the Justice Department, reported that some of the funds belonged to at least 10 financial crime victims. The other outlets in this roundup did not mention that detail. The plea agreement's statement of facts also says the conduct compromised several FBI cases against criminal groups and hostile governments, along with sources and methods used in foreign intelligence collection.
Portugal plans and the self-report
Decrypt reported that Yaroch asked ChatGPT how to maximize investment profits and where to live in the European Union. After the chatbot suggested a vineyard in Portugal, prosecutors said, he gave Portuguese lawyers power of attorney to obtain a tax identification number and arranged to travel there in September.
According to an FBI affidavit cited by Decrypt, Yaroch told a former Justice Department colleague on July 29 that he had made "very poor decisions" involving crypto wallets. He then reported himself to FBI headquarters, saying he was frustrated that the bureau "could not or would not act" against an adversary's crypto accounts. At that point he put his activity at 10 to 12 transfers worth under $1 million. Unchained noted that the plea figures are about two and a half times the dollar amount and about 10 times the transfer count he gave then.
Agents searching his home two days later seized a Trezor hardware wallet, three passports and a paper with seed phrases, per the affidavit. His Kraken account held about $188,600, mostly in U.S. dollars and USDC. Another $933,800 sat in Suilend, a lending protocol on the Sui blockchain, accessed through the Slush wallet app. Agents moved about $925,000 to government-controlled wallets, but roughly $165,600 held in dollars on Kraken could not be moved the same way.
What comes next
Yaroch faces up to 20 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for March 4, 2027.
The sources do not say which of the 35 investigations were affected, how much of the stolen money has been recovered beyond the seized amounts, or what internal changes the FBI may make to how it stores wallet credentials. CryptoSlate's account of the affidavit says the diagram it published does not identify affected cases or security controls.
Sources
- Former FBI Agent Pleads Guilty to Stealing $2.5M in Crypto From 35 Investigations Decrypt
- FBI agent drains crypto wallets tied to 35 investigations, steals $2.47 million and plans Portugal escape CryptoSlate
- Former FBI Agent Admits Stealing $2.47M in Crypto Linked to 35 Investigations, Faces Up to 20 Years in Prison Wu Blockchain
- Ex-FBI Agent’s Plea Puts Crypto Theft at $2.47 Million, Over Twice What He First Told the FBI Unchained
Written with AI assistance from the sources above and checked against them. Not investment advice.