Former FBI Agent Patrick Steven Yaroch Pleads Guilty to Stealing $2.5 Million in Crypto from Investigation Targets
A former FBI supervisory special agent has admitted to wire fraud and money laundering after stealing nearly $2.5 million in cryptocurrency from wallets belonging to fraud victims and nation-state hackers under active FBI probes. Patrick Steven Yaroch, who served in the FBI Boston Division and later at FBI Headquarters Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, accessed passphrases stored in internal case management systems to drain the funds. He conducted around 100 fraudulent transfers tied to 35 separate investigations and attempted to launder the proceeds by moving them between multiple wallets and using them to pay personal debts. Yaroch self-reported the theft to the Department of Justice National Security Division before his arrest and had been planning to relocate his family to Portugal using funds obtained through the scheme. His actions compromised multiple ongoing national security investigations and exposed sensitive FBI sources and methods. He faces up to 40 years in prison at sentencing scheduled for March 4.
BleepingComputerNov 9, 2026Translated from English