Former FBI agent pleads guilty to stealing about $2.47 million in crypto from wallets tied to 35 FBI investigations, and planned a move to Portugal after ChatGPT suggested a vineyard

A former FBI agent has admitted using the bureau's systems to steal crypto from wallets tied to its own investigations. Patrick Steven Yaroch, 37, of Ashburn, Virginia, pleaded guilty on November 5 to wire fraud and money laundering, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said.

According to the government, from no later than December 2024 Yaroch used FBI systems holding cryptocurrency credentials collected in investigations to take crypto from wallets belonging to investigation subjects, adversarial nation-state actors and at least one FBI-created wallet. He made about 100 transfers tied to 35 investigations, worth about $2,474,380, then swapped and moved the funds to launder them. Prosecutors said his actions compromised several FBI investigations, sources and methods.

Some of the money paid credit cards, car payments and loans. The release says he asked ChatGPT about investments and where to live in the EU, and that, following its suggestion of buying a vineyard in Portugal, he gave Portuguese lawyers power of attorney in June 2026 and arranged to travel there in September 2026.

Yaroch served in the FBI's Boston Division and then its Counterintelligence and Espionage Division until July 31, 2026. The Block reports he agreed to forfeit about 1.38 million SUI tokens and other funds. Sentencing is set for March 4, 2027.