Agent accused of stealing $1M in cryptocurrency said he was frustrated with FBI

A magistrate judge found probable cause Tuesday to move forward with a case against an FBI counterintelligence agent accused of stealing almost $1 million in cryptocurrency.

According to a federal complaint, Patrick Yaroch told investigators he became frustrated with the FBI and had been in possession of the cryptocurrency since last year.

Last week, Yaroch, 37, contacted an employee with the Department of Justice via the Signal app and asked to meet to discuss a personal matter. According to a complaint filed in federal court, the two met at FBI headquarters before moving the meeting across the street to the DOJ building.

“YAROCH decided to tell DOJ EMPLOYEE 1 about his actions because of the shame and he knew what he did was wrong,” the complaint said. “YAROCH said it was ‘eating him up inside,’ and he wanted to ‘get it off his chest.’ YAROCH inquired about criminal exposure. DOJ EMPLOYEE 1 instructed YAROCH that it was very serious, he should get a lawyer.”

“In approximately November 2024, during his investigative work, YAROCH was exposed to adversarial cryptocurrency accounts,” the complaint said. “At this point, YAROCH described himself as ‘spinning out of control.’ YAROCH claimed he was frustrated that the FBI could not or would not act against adversarial cryptocurrency accounts.”