Crypto
Home›Crypto›Regulation›FBI agent accused of stealing $1 million in seized cry…
FBI agent accused of stealing $1 million in seized crypto
Court filings allege he transferred $925,426.1 in cryptocurrency to personal wallets over multiple transactions, with most funds held in stablecoins rather than Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Magazine reports that court records allege an FBI agent, Patrick Steven Yaroch, stole $1 million in seized cryptocurrencies and transferred $925,426.07 to his personal wallets through numerous transactions. The filings say the case involves crypto tied to an “adversarial nation” wallet and that Yaroch planned to travel abroad after taking the funds.
According to the affidavit filed in a Virginia district court, the agent “take matters into his own hands” after seizing the crypto, and the record includes allegations that Yaroch used access to FBI systems to find keys needed to move money from wallets to himself. The documents also allege he considered retiring in Portugal with his wife, citing a ChatGPT history, before later confessing to a Department of Justice employee.
Bitcoin Magazine adds that a motion for a detention order made public on Tuesday said the evidence against Yaroch is strong and that he confessed to stealing cryptocurrency from the adverse nations’ wallets. The filings further allege Yaroch previously had access to highly secret information and misused it for financial gain.
The court documents say Yaroch was fired from the FBI on July 31, and that investigations remain ongoing. He faces two felony charges with a maximum penalty of 10 years incarceration each, and the filings state he had only a tiny amount of Bitcoin in his Kraken account, while the bulk of the funds were held in stablecoins.
Latest closeBitcoin $64,255.96 ▲1.2%