Patrick Steven Yaroch had contacted a Department of Justice (DOJ) employee last week and admitted to making “very poor decisions related to cryptocurrency wallets,” according to an FBI affidavit filed Monday (Aug. 4).
The filing alleges that Yaroch used FBI systems to gain access to keys necessary to move funds from crypto accounts tied to an “adversarial nation,” making around 10 transfers beginning in late 2024 or early 2025.
According to the FBI, Yaroch “immediately started to break down as he told his story” to the DOJ employee. He decided to confess “because of the shame” that was “eating him up inside,” the filing said.
Yaroch said he learned of the accounts in November 2024 during an investigation, and became frustrated that the FBI “could not or would not act against” such accounts. From there, he went into FBI systems to find the keys needed to transfer the funds to himself. The filing said Yaroch claims he never interacted with anyone connected to the accounts.
A search of Yaroch’s iPhone found several queries submitted to ChatGPT seeking advice on how to retire to another country.
“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?” one query said.
Yaroch, who has been fired from the FBI, has been charged with interstate transportation and receipt of stolen goods, securities and monies, the affidavit said.
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) said in April that it received 181,565 complaints involving cryptocurrency last year, and that these complaints reported $11.4 billion in losses.
In response to the problem of crypto theft, lawmakers have proposed a bill to establish the Federal Cryptocurrency Theft Task Force, established within the Justice Department and working in tandem with other federal agencies.
Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Texas), one of the sponsors of the bill, argued that Washington has no coordinated strategy to target crypto criminals who are stealing billions from Americans.
“As digital assets shape the future of finance, this bill protects consumers, cracks down on thieves, and strengthens trust in the crypto ecosystem,” Gooden said in a news release when the legislation was proposed in June.
