FBI Agent Arrested for Allegedly Stealing $1 Million in Cryptocurrency

An FBI counterintelligence agent has been arrested on allegations of embezzling over $1 million in cryptocurrency obtained during an investigation.

The supervisory special agent, Patrick Stephen Yarmuth, worked at the FBI's headquarters and had top-secret clearance.

Yarmuth allegedly extracted private keys from the FBI's computer systems and transferred assets from foreign nationals' accounts into his own through crypto exchange Kraken and Suilend, a decentralized finance platform built on the Sui blockchain.

An investigation found that Yarmuth moved the stolen funds in at least 12 transactions and also used an artificial intelligence app to research how he could leave the US with $1 million, recommending Portugal as the best option for him.