A former FBI supervisory special agent has been charged after US prosecutors alleged he secretly diverted cryptocurrency from wallets tied to a foreign adversary while working on counterintelligence investigations, later parking the funds in a decentralized lending protocol to generate returns.
According to a criminal complaint filed in a Virginia federal court, Patrick Steven Yaroch allegedly abused his access to internal FBI systems to obtain wallet recovery credentials linked to an investigation involving a hostile nation. Investigators say he used those credentials to move cryptocurrency into wallets under his personal control through a series of unauthorized transactions beginning in late 2024.
Authorities allege Yaroch carried out roughly ten transfers over several months, with the total amount approaching $1 million. Prosecutors say some of the assets were later deposited into Suilend, a decentralized lending platform on the Sui blockchain, where they were earning yield when investigators recovered them.
The case came to light after Yaroch voluntarily approached a Justice Department official and later FBI personnel, admitting he had taken cryptocurrency from investigative wallets because he had become frustrated by the bureau’s inability to disrupt suspected foreign actors using digital assets. According to the complaint, he described the misconduct as weighing heavily on him and said he wanted to return the money.
Federal agents later searched Yaroch’s residence, where they recovered cryptocurrency hardware, handwritten wallet recovery phrases and multiple digital devices. Investigators also gained access to accounts allegedly controlled by Yaroch and transferred approximately $925,000 in crypto into government-controlled wallets after he signed a consent form authorizing the seizure. Court documents state that additional cash balances remained on a crypto exchange account because they could not immediately be transferred on-chain.
The complaint also alleges Yaroch combined the allegedly stolen crypto with his own personal holdings, making it difficult to distinguish the funds. Investigators say he acknowledged that the assets had become commingled over time.
Yaroch, who served as an FBI supervisory special agent until July 2026, has been charged with interstate transportation of stolen property and receipt of stolen property. The criminal complaint does not include allegations that he worked with or communicated with the foreign entities whose wallets were involved.
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