FBI Agent Is Accused of Taking Cryptocurrency From Suspect's Accounts — WSJ

By Sadie GurmanAn FBI counterintelligence agent is accused of taking about $1 million worth of cryptocurrency from the digital accounts of an overseas suspect in a U.S. criminal investigation, according to court documents.Patrick Yaroch, a Federal Bureau of Investigation supervisory agent who works in Washington, D.C., came forward late last week to confess, telling a Justice Department employee that it was "eating him up inside, " and he wanted to "get it off his chest," according to the documents from the criminal case against him.The agent told colleagues he started taking the money in 2024 or 2025 and made 10 to 12 withdrawals by using passcodes for the suspect's accounts that the FBI had obtained during its probe, the affidavit said.Yaroch said he had been "spinning out of control," suggesting he had taken the money because he was "frustrated that the FBI could not or would not act against adversarial cryptocurrency accounts," the affidavit said. The court papers don't identify the adversarial nation.Searches of Yaroch's ChatGPT showed that in May he asked, "If I had a million dollars, how would you suggest investing it/spending it to maximize profit and return," according to the affidavit. A few days later in June, he asked the AI chatbot: "If you had a bucket of money (around $1 million) and you wanted to leave the USA and become a resident or citizen of an EU country, what would you do?"Yaroch told authorities he didn't know exactly how much he took because it was mixed with his own personal assets, but estimated it was less than $1 million. Investigators said the crypto wallet where Yaroch had deposited the money contained roughly $1 million.Yaroch hasn't been charged with stealing the cryptocurrency but with interstate transfer of stolen goods. Authorities searched his home and moved quickly to arrest him over the weekend even though he was preparing to cooperate further. Once he knew the bureau was investigating him criminally, Yaroch stopped talking to investigators and said he wanted to consult with a lawyer."As soon as the FBI became aware of these allegations, we immediately took action," the bureau said in a statement, adding that Yaroch has since been fired.Court records do not yet show an attorney representing him.Write to Sadie Gurman at [email protected]