A former FBI agent has pleaded guilty to stealing about $2.47 million in cryptocurrency from 35 FBI investigations, Decrypt reports, citing a Justice Department announcement on Thursday.
Patrick Steven Yaroch, 37, of Ashburn, Virginia, admitted wire fraud and money laundering in federal court in Alexandria. The maximum sentence is 20 years, and sentencing is set for 4 March 2027.
Prosecutors say he made about 100 fraudulent transfers using credentials from the cases, which included nation-state and criminal-group investigations. The funds were swapped and moved to hide where they came from. The thefts began no later than December 2024.
He worked in the FBI’s Boston Division from 2017 to early 2025, then in its Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. The money paid off credit cards, car payments and other loans, according to the plea, and he was due to travel in September.
The detail that stands out is what he asked a chatbot. He queried ChatGPT about where to live in the EU, and after it suggested a Portuguese vineyard he gave Portuguese lawyers power of attorney to get a tax ID.
He confessed on 29 July and reported himself to FBI headquarters. At the time he described 10 to 12 transfers worth under $1 million, a fraction of the plea figure.
Agents recovered about $925,000 from a Kraken account and a Suilend position. Roughly $165,600 in Kraken dollars could not be moved, and the rest of the money is not accounted for in the report.
