Ex-FBI Agent Yaroch Admits Stealing $2.47M in Crypto from Probes

An ex-FBI agent on Thursday entered a guilty plea for stealing roughly $2.47 million in cryptocurrency. He used wallet access keys the bureau had seized during its own investigations, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Patrick Steven Yaroch, a 37-year-old from Ashburn, Virginia, admitted to charges of wire fraud and money laundering at the federal courthouse in Alexandria. U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles approved the plea. Yaroch now faces a potential 20-year prison term, with sentencing set for March 4, 2027.

According to court documents, the stolen amount is exactly $2,474,380.66. Yaroch allegedly conducted about 100 unauthorized transfers involving credentials from 35 different FBI probes. The draining targeted wallets owned by investigation targets, hostile state-backed actors, and even a wallet the bureau had set up for an undercover operation.

The Justice Department’s internal watchdog first brought the case to light in August following Yaroch’s arrest on a criminal charge. An initial description mentioned only about 10 transactions adding up to around $1 million. It also stated that Yaroch had voluntarily told two department officials about his actions on July 29, 2026. The final sum admitted in court is significantly higher.

Yaroch was assigned to the FBI’s Boston Division from 2017 until early 2025, working on a team targeting a hostile foreign power. Between February 2025 and July 31, 2026, he was with the bureau’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division at headquarters. In that role, he had access to databases holding cryptocurrency credentials collected during probes.

Converting Stolen FBI Credentials to Cash

Starting as early as December 2024, he employed his system access to shift funds from those wallets into his own. Once the coins were in his possession, he traded them for different digital currencies and executed additional transfers designed to hide their origins, nature, and true owner.

Between November 25, 2025, and January 13, 2026, Yaroch transferred roughly $93,082 into a personal account. He subsequently moved money between various accounts to pay down his financial obligations, such as credit card bills, vehicle loans, and other debts, according to the prosecutor’s office.

FOX 5 DC, referencing the same U.S. Attorney’s Office release, highlighted details about Yaroch’s plans for Portugal contained in the court papers. He consulted ChatGPT on optimizing investment gains and choosing a location within the EU. Following the AI’s recommendation to purchase a Portuguese vineyard, he granted a power of attorney to lawyers in Portugal on June 15, 2026. Their task was to register him with the Portuguese Tax and Customs Authority, secure a tax ID, and retrieve the password for his financial portal. Yaroch also organized a trip to Portugal planned for September 2026.

The Toll on the FBI as Detailed in the Guilty Plea

The prosecution’s agreed facts extend beyond the monetary total. Authorities stated that Yaroch’s actions undermined several FBI probes into organized crime and foreign adversaries. The methods and sources used by the bureau for gathering foreign intelligence and building criminal cases were also jeopardized. Furthermore, it “deprived FBI employees of their ability to carry out their functions to protect public safety and national security.”

The plea was announced by Theophani K. Stamos, First Assistant U.S. Attorney, and Daniel S. Wierzbicki, who leads the FBI Washington Field Office’s Counterintelligence Division. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathleen Robeson and Russell Carlberg, aided by the National Security Cyber Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division and the DOJ inspector general’s Mid-Atlantic region. The case number is 1:26-CR-208 in the Eastern District of Virginia.

This guilty plea comes during a period of intensifying federal crypto-crime news. These range from a failed bitcoin kidnapping case that produced a guilty plea last month to FBI statistics showing U.S. crypto fraud losses surpassing $11 billion in 2025, a number the administration has cited to shape a broader enforcement push.

It remains to be seen how the sentencing will address the difference between Yaroch’s July self-disclosure and the $2.47 million sum in the plea agreement. Also unclear is the extent to which the 35 compromised FBI probes can be salvaged after an insider used the bureau’s private wallet keys as a personal cash source. Judge Giles is scheduled to start dealing with these questions on March 4, 2027.