FBI Insider’s $2.5M Crypto Theft Plot: Portugal, a Vineyard and 100 Transfers

Former FBI agent Patrick Steven Yaroch, 37, of Ashburn, Virginia, pleaded guilty on November 5, 2026, to wire fraud and money laundering for stealing $2,474,380.66 in cryptocurrency through credentials collected during 35 FBI investigations. He faces up to 20 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 4, 2027.

Yaroch worked at the FBI’s Boston Division from 2017 to early 2025 on a squad investigating an unnamed “adversarial nation state,” before joining the Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. Beginning no later than December 2024, prosecutors said, he used access to FBI systems to make about 100 fraudulent transfers from wallets belonging to subjects of other investigations, nation-state actors and at least one wallet created by the FBI for an operation.

The stolen funds were converted into other cryptocurrencies and moved through further transactions to conceal their origin. Yaroch used some of the proceeds to pay credit cards, car payments and other loans. His actions compromised investigations into criminal groups and nation-state adversaries, as well as sources and methods used in foreign intelligence collection, according to the plea agreement’s statement of facts.

According to prosecutors, Yaroch sought advice from ChatGPT on maximizing investment profits and choosing a place to live in the European Union. After the chatbot suggested buying a vineyard in Portugal, he gave Portuguese lawyers power of attorney to obtain a tax identification number and arranged to travel there in September.

On July 29, Yaroch broke down while speaking with a former colleague at the Justice Department’s National Security Division, admitting he had made “very poor decisions” involving crypto wallets. He then reported to FBI headquarters, saying he was frustrated that the bureau “could not or would not act” against an adversary’s crypto accounts and had decided to “take matters into his own hands.” Yaroch also was charged Friday with interstate transportation of stolen goods and receipt of stolen goods.