A former FBI supervisory special agent stole nearly $1 million in cryptocurrency from digital wallets tied to a Russia-linked target he was investigating, then researched how to resettle in Europe, according to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Patrick Steven Yaroch, 41, was charged with interstate transportation of stolen goods and receipt of stolen goods. Prosecutors say he moved roughly $925,426 through as many as 12 transfers between early 2025 and July 2026. Two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News the adversarial nation named in sealed filings is Russia.
Yaroch worked in the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division and held top-secret clearance. According to the affidavit, he accessed bureau systems to obtain the wallet seed phrases, memorized the recovery credentials, and transferred funds into an account he controlled without any hacking.
His stated motive was not profit. The affidavit says Yaroch was “frustrated that the FBI could not or would not act against adversarial cryptocurrency accounts” and described himself as “spinning out of control.”
