Ex-FBI Agent Admits Stealing $2.5M in Crypto From Investigations

A former FBI counterintelligence agent has admitted to stealing almost $2.5 million in cryptocurrency — and the money was taken directly from criminal cases he was supposed to be investigating.

Patrick Steven Yaroch, 37, pleaded guilty to wire fraud (using electronic communications, like the internet, to illegally steal money) and money laundering (hiding where illegally obtained money came from so it looks legitimate).

According to the US Attorney's Office, Yaroch used his special access to FBI computer systems to secretly move cryptocurrency (digital money that exists only online, like Bitcoin) out of wallets tied to active investigations. A crypto wallet is like a digital bank account that stores these coins.

Here are the key facts:

• He made around 100 fraudulent transfers
• The theft touched 35 separate FBI investigations
• He stole a total of $2,474,380.66
• Some funds came from wallets linked to adversarial nations (hostile foreign governments) and criminal groups

What did he plan to do with the money? Yaroch used some of it to pay off his personal debts. He also intended to start a new life in Portugal, where he hoped to buy a vineyard (a farm for growing grapes to make wine).

Yaroch admitted that his crimes damaged real FBI investigations into dangerous criminal organizations and hostile nations — a serious national security concern.

The consequences are steep. He now faces up to 20 years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for March 4, 2027. He had earlier admitted to roughly $1 million in unauthorized transfers before the full amount was revealed.

In short, a person once trusted to protect the country's secrets betrayed that trust for personal gain — and now faces decades behind bars.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://cointelegraph.com/news/ex-fbi-counterintelligence-agent-stole-almost-25m-in-crypto?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound