A former FBI agent pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering after stealing about $2.47 million in cryptocurrency using wallet credentials collected in bureau investigations, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Patrick Steven Yaroch, 37, of Ashburn, Virginia, entered the plea in federal court in Alexandria. The department announced the plea on November 5, 2026. He faces up to 20 years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for March 4, 2027.
Decrypt published its account on November 6, 2026, at 18:57:06 UTC+8.
Investigative access used for roughly 100 transfers
According to prosecutors, Yaroch worked in the FBI’s Boston Division from 2017 to early 2025 on a squad investigating an unnamed “adversarial nation state.” He later moved to the bureau’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, where he had access to systems containing cryptocurrency credentials obtained during investigations.
Beginning no later than December 2024, he used that access to steal from wallets controlled by subjects of other investigations and nation-state actors, as well as at least one wallet the FBI had created for an operation.
Prosecutors said Yaroch made about 100 fraudulent transfers using credentials from 35 separate FBI investigations. He then exchanged the stolen assets for other cryptocurrencies and routed them through additional transactions to conceal their origin. Some of the money went toward credit card bills, car payments and other loans.
The statement of facts accompanying his plea agreement said his conduct compromised multiple investigations into criminal groups and nation-state adversaries, along with sources and methods used to collect foreign intelligence.
Self-report initially understated the theft
An FBI affidavit described Yaroch breaking down during a July 29 conversation with a former colleague at the Justice Department’s National Security Division. He said he had made “very poor decisions” involving cryptocurrency wallets.
He subsequently reported himself to FBI headquarters. He told the bureau he had become frustrated that it “could not or would not act” against an adversary’s crypto accounts and had decided to “take matters into his own hands.”
At that stage, Yaroch said he had made approximately 10 to 12 transfers totaling less than $1 million—substantially below the amounts later acknowledged in his plea.
Agents searched his home two days later and seized a Trezor hardware wallet, three passports and a piece of paper containing seed phrases, according to the affidavit.
Funds traced to Kraken and Suilend
The affidavit said Yaroch’s Kraken account contained about $188,600, primarily in U.S. dollars and the USDC stablecoin, with smaller holdings of Squid (QUID) and Bitcoin.
Another approximately $933,800 was held in Suilend, a lending protocol on the Sui blockchain, which he accessed through the Slush wallet app. Yaroch told investigators he selected Suilend “simply because he liked that the logo was a water droplet.”
Agents transferred about $925,000 from those accounts to government-controlled wallets. Roughly $165,600 held as U.S. dollars on Kraken could not be transferred in the same manner, the affidavit said.
Plans to move abroad
Prosecutors also said Yaroch explored a new life overseas. He asked ChatGPT about maximizing investment profits and places to live in the European Union. After the chatbot suggested purchasing a vineyard in Portugal, he gave Portuguese lawyers power of attorney to obtain a tax identification number on his behalf. He arranged to travel to Portugal in September.
Decrypt had previously reported on the charges in August.