Patrick Steven Yaroch, 37, worked on the FBI's counterintelligence side with access to bureau systems holding wallet credentials gathered during investigations. He has now pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.

Starting no later than December 2024, Yaroch made about 100 fraudulent transfers using credentials from 35 separate FBI cases, draining wallets tied to investigation subjects, nation-state actors and at least one wallet the FBI created for an operation. He swapped and moved the funds to hide their origin, and parts went to credit cards and car loans.

About $2.47M in crypto was stolen across 35 FBI investigations.

Planning a move abroad, he asked ChatGPT where to live in the EU and then hired Portuguese lawyers to get a tax ID after it suggested a vineyard in Portugal. He self-reported in July, agents recovered about $925K (including funds parked in Sui lending protocol Suilend), and he faces up to 20 years at sentencing on March 4, 2027.