Former FBI Agent Charged with Stealing $1 Million in Cryptocurrency

A former FBI supervisory special agent has been charged with stealing nearly $1 million in cryptocurrency from wallets tied to FBI counterintelligence investigations. Patrick Steven Yaroch, who worked in the FBI's Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, allegedly accessed FBI systems to obtain cryptocurrency wallet seed phrases connected to investigations involving an unnamed foreign adversary.

According to investigators, Yaroch memorized the recovery phrases, created his own cryptocurrency wallet, and transferred funds into accounts under his control about 10 times. The holdings eventually grew to about $1 million.

During searches of his home and devices, investigators recovered a Trezor hardware wallet and handwritten cryptocurrency seed phrases. They also found evidence of a planned family trip to Portugal, power-of-attorney documents related to Portugal, and what prosecutors described as previously unreported foreign travel.