Patrick Steven Yaroch, a former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, pleaded guilty on Thursday to wire fraud and money laundering charges for stealing approximately $2.47 million in cryptocurrency from wallets secured during bureau investigations.
Yaroch, 37, of Ashburn, Virginia, entered his pleas in federal court in Alexandria. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced the development, confirming that Yaroch faces up to 20 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles accepted the plea, and sentencing is scheduled for March 4, 2027.
Scale of the Theft
Court documents state the total illicit haul amounted to $2,474,380.66. Prosecutors allege that Yaroch executed roughly 100 fraudulent transfers using credentials tied to 35 separate FBI investigations. The stolen assets originated from wallets controlled by subjects of those investigations, adversarial nation-state actors, and at least one wallet the FBI had created for an operational purpose.
Yaroch served in the FBI Boston Division from 2017 through early 2025, working on a squad focused on an adversarial nation-state. From February 2025 through July 31, 2026, he worked in the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division at headquarters, where he had access to systems storing cryptocurrency credentials gathered in cases.
Beginning no later than December 2024, Yaroch used this access to move coins into wallets he controlled. He subsequently swapped the stolen cryptocurrency into other digital assets and conducted further transactions intended to obscure the source, nature, and ownership of the funds.
Personal Use and Escape Plans
Between November 25, 2025, and January 13, 2026, Yaroch moved about $93,082 into one of his personal accounts. He then shuffled these funds among other accounts to cover debts, including credit card bills, car payments, and loans, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The plea agreement also details Yaroch’s efforts to relocate abroad. FOX 5 DC, citing the Justice Department release, reported that Yaroch asked ChatGPT for investment advice and recommendations on where to live in the European Union. After the artificial intelligence tool suggested buying a vineyard in Portugal, Yaroch granted power of attorney to Portuguese lawyers on June 15, 2026. The lawyers were tasked with registering him with the Portuguese Tax and Customs Authority, obtaining a tax identification number, and collecting passwords for his finance portal. He arranged travel to Portugal for September 2026.
Impact on National Security
The agreed statement of facts indicates that Yaroch’s conduct compromised multiple FBI investigations into criminal groups and nation-state adversaries. The office stated that the theft compromised FBI sources and methods used in foreign intelligence collection and criminal cases, depriving employees of their ability to protect public safety and national security.
The Justice Department Office of the Inspector General flagged the case in August following Yaroch’s arrest on a criminal complaint. An earlier account described a smaller set of transfers—about 10 moves totaling roughly $1 million—and noted that Yaroch self-reported the activity to two department employees on July 29, 2026. The figures in the final plea are significantly larger.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Theophani K. Stamos and Daniel S. Wierzbicki, special agent in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Counterintelligence Division, announced the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathleen Robeson and Russell Carlberg are prosecuting the case, identified as 1:26-CR-208, with assistance from the National Security Cyber Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division and the DOJ inspector general’s Mid-Atlantic region.
