Patrick Steven Yaroch, a 37-year-old former FBI agent, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering in Alexandria federal court. Prosecutors state he stole approximately $2.47 million in cryptocurrency by accessing credentials from 35 separate FBI investigations.
Yaroch worked for the FBI from 2017 to early 2025. Starting in December 2024, he executed about 100 fraudulent transfers from wallets linked to criminal groups and nation-state actors. He laundered the funds by swapping them into different cryptocurrencies to obscure their origin and used the proceeds for personal debts.
The former agent planned to move to Portugal and consulted ChatGPT for investment and relocation advice. He eventually turned himself in after admitting to his actions. During a search of his home, authorities seized a Trezor hardware wallet, passports, and seed phrases.
Investigators discovered $188,600 in a Kraken account and $933,800 in the Suilend lending protocol. Authorities subsequently recovered approximately $925,000 from these accounts. Yaroch faces up to 20 years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for March 4, 2027.
