(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A former FBI supervisory special agent pled guilty last week to the theft of roughly $1 million worth of cryptocurrency, the Justice Department announced Thursday.
The former agent, Patrick Yaroch, admitted to his crimes to another Justice Department employee in July—saying that he wanted to “get it off his chest.”
After confessing at FBI headquarters, Yaroch was placed on administrative leave. He was fired two days later, the same day agents searched his home.
During the search, Yaroch provided agents with access to his phone. On the phone, agents found his cryptocurrency accounts. Agents seized about $925,426 worth of crypto from his accounts. Another $165,582 remained in one of his accounts, with agents apparently unable to immediately transfer it because the funds were USD, according to court records.
“Once Yaroch moved the stolen cryptocurrency, he would exchange it for a different type of cryptocurrency. Yaroch then laundered the cryptocurrency through additional financial transactions to obfuscate its source, nature, and ownership,” the DOJ said in a press release last week.
An FBI counterintelligence agent pleaded guilty last week to charges related to stealing nearly $2,500,000 in cryptocurrency from investigative subjects’ crypto wallets.
According to court documents, Patrick Yaroch had been assigned to the Counterintelligence and Espionage… pic.twitter.com/7L8TIiLghQ
— Spycraft101 (@spycraft101) November 8, 2026
“Between Nov. 25, 2025, and Jan. 13, 2026, Yaroch transferred approximately $93,082 to one of his accounts, then transferred the funds between his other accounts from which he sent various payments to cover his debts, including credit cards, car payments, and other loans.”
According to court records, FBI agents also discovered that Yaroch had been making plans to travel to Portugal, where he eventually wanted to live. Yaroch even asked ChatGPT about living there.
Yaroch is scheduled to be sentenced on March 4, 2027. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
