Patrick Yaroch, a former FBI agent, pleaded guilty on November 5 to wire fraud and money laundering. He admitted stealing about $2.47 million in crypto in roughly 100 transfers, using access from 35 FBI investigations. He swapped and laundered the coins. Sentencing is set for March 4, 2027. For readers, the lesson is simple: a real agent will never ask you to move your crypto.

Key facts

  • Who: Patrick Steven Yaroch, 37, of Ashburn, Virginia, a former FBI special agent
  • What: Pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering for stealing crypto tied to FBI cases
  • How much: About $2.47 million, in roughly 100 transfers, from wallets linked to 35 investigations
  • When: Plea entered November 5, 2026; sentencing March 4, 2027
  • Source: US Justice Department and Bitcoin Magazine

A former FBI agent has admitted stealing crypto from the cases he was meant to work on. Patrick Steven Yaroch, 37, of Ashburn, Virginia, pleaded guilty on November 5 to wire fraud and money laundering, the US Justice Department said. He took about $2.47 million in crypto in roughly 100 transfers.

He used access he got through 35 FBI investigations, Bitcoin Magazine reported. The wallets included ones tied to people under investigation, wallets linked to foreign governments, and at least one wallet the FBI itself used. He then swapped the coins for other crypto to hide the trail.

What we know

  • Where he worked: FBI Boston from 2017 to early 2025, then the Counterintelligence and Espionage Division until July 31, 2026, crypto.news reported.
  • How it came out: he first admitted to taking less than $1 million. The full total was larger, Bitcoin.com News reported.
  • What's next: sentencing is set for March 4, 2027.

The Justice Department hasn't said whether victims in those cases will get the money back.

What it means for you

This was an inside theft from seized and tracked funds, not a hack of ordinary wallets. But scammers will use stories like this one.

  • Real agents never ask you to move crypto. A caller who says your coins must go to a "secure government wallet" is a scammer. Read the police warrant Bitcoin scam.
  • No one official charges a fee to get crypto back. See how recovery scams work.
  • Report to the real office. Use the official site you type in yourself. Our reporting guide lists where.

Sources: US Department of Justice, EDVA, Former FBI agent pleads guilty to cryptocurrency theft (November 2026), Bitcoin Magazine, Former FBI agent pleads guilty to crypto theft (November 2026), crypto.news, Former FBI agent pleads guilty to $2.47M crypto theft (November 2026), Bitcoin.com News, Former FBI agent guilty of stealing $2.47M in crypto from 35 cases (November 2026).