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APRIL 25: In this photo illustration of the litecoin, ripple and ethereum cryptocurrency ‘altcoins’ sit arranged for a photograph on April 25, 2018 in London, England. Cryptocurrency markets began to recover this month following a massive crash during the first quarter of 2018, seeing more than $550 billion wiped from the total market capitalisation. (Photo by Jack Taylor/
WASHINGTON (TNND) —An FBI agent is accused of taking around $1 million in cryptocurrency from digital accounts tied to a suspect in an overseas criminal investigation, court documents revealed.
Patrick Yaroch is an FBI supervisory agent working in Washington, D.C., who, according to documents obtained by theWall Street Journal, came forward last week to confess to the alleged crime.
Yaroch reportedly told a Department of Justice employee that the situation was “eating him up inside” and wanted to get it “off his chest.”
According to the affidavit, Yaroch allegedly told colleagues he began taking money in 2024 or 2025 and made 10-12 withdrawals using passcodes for the suspect’s accounts. The passcodes were gathered from information obtained during the FBI investigation.
The outlet reports that Yaroch may have taken the money over frustrations that the FBI “could not or would not act against adversarial cryptocurrency accounts.”
In the affidavit, it says Yaroch’s ChatGPT searches in May show he asked, “If I had a million dollars, how would you suggest investing it/spending it to maximize profit and return?” In June, he asked ChatGPT, “If you had a bucket of money (around $1 million) and you wanted to leave the USA and become a resident or citizen of an EU country, what would you do?” the outlet reports.
Yaroch reportedly told officials he didn’t know the exact amount of crypto that was taken, but estimated it as less than $1 million, with investigators confirming the crypto wallet where he deposited the money, the WSJ reports.
The agent has not been charged with stealing the cryptocurrency, but the documents list the charge as interstate transfer of stolen goods. His home was searched and he was arrested over the weekend.
The FBI told the outlet that Yaroch has since been fired from the agency and that it took action as soon as it became aware of the allegations.
