FBI Agent Arrested for Stealing $1 Million in Cryptocurrency
FBI agent Patrick Steven Yaroch has been arrested and charged with stealing around $1 million in cryptocurrency from adversarial nation's accounts. Yaroch, a supervisory special agent in the counterintelligence and espionage division since 2017, allegedly used his top-secret security clearance to log on to government databases and memorize passphrases associated with the foreign accounts.
He then initiated 10 to 12 transfers into his own wallet, amounting to around $1 million. According to the FBI's arrest affidavit, Yaroch confessed in an interview that he 'f***ed up.'
The investigation found that Yaroch researched how far he could stretch $1 million and even booked round-trip tickets to Portugal for September. He also did not report previous travel to Portugal, Germany, and Grenada as required by the agency's rules.
Yaroch's arrest is the latest in a string of corruption allegations roiling the U.S. intelligence community. He is charged with interstate transportation of stolen goods, securities, and monies, and receipt of stolen goods, securities, and monies.