- An FBI supervisor is charged with stealing almost $1 million in crypto.
- He moved money from accounts tied to an adversarial nation into his own wallet.
- He turned himself in, and the FBI fired him days later.
- He never spent the roughly $925,000 he moved.
Patrick Yaroch was a supervisory special agent at the FBI until it fired him in July. Prosecutors charged him with two federal crimes for moving almost $1 million out of cryptocurrency accounts tied to an adversarial nation into a wallet of his own. Two people familiar with the case told NBC News that nation was Russia. The FBI fired him once it learned what happened.
FBI agent crypto theft charges
According to the FBI's affidavit, Yaroch searched bureau records for the recovery phrases that unlock those cryptocurrency accounts. He memorized the phrases, then used them to move the funds into his own wallet about 10 to 12 times. Yaroch worked on a squad investigating that adversarial nation for eight years before moving to FBI headquarters. He held a Top Secret security clearance during that time.
Yaroch told a Justice Department employee he grew frustrated that the FBI would not act against those accounts. He said the guilt was eating him up, and he wanted to get it off his chest. He filed an online report with the FBI and met with agents to explain himself. He also said he never contacted anyone tied to the accounts and never spent the money.
FBI agents searched Yaroch's home in Ashburn, Virginia, and seized his phone, two computers, and a hardware wallet. They also found three passports, one of them diplomatic, and a small piece of paper with the wallet's recovery phrases written on it. Yaroch let agents into his phone using Face ID. He also handed over access to his cryptocurrency wallet.
Prosecutors say the total value of everything Yaroch moved came to about $925,426. He has been charged with interstate transportation of stolen goods and receipt of stolen goods, but has not yet been indicted. A judge found probable cause for the case on August 4 and sent it toward a grand jury. The judge also put off the release decision until the next day.
The FBI says it acted right away once it learned about the case. A spokesperson said the agency fired Yaroch and holds employees to the highest ethical standards, adding that conduct like this is not tolerated.
