Former FBI Special Agent Patrick Stephen Yaroch has pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $2.5 million from the cryptocurrency wallets of fraud victims and hackers who were under investigation.
Yaroch, 37, worked from 2017 to 2025 in the FBI's National Security Division in Boston, and later as a supervisor in the counterintelligence and espionage division at FBI headquarters, BleepingComputer reports.
In total, Yaroch carried out about 100 unauthorized transactions within 35 separate FBI investigations, misappropriating $2,474,380.
To cover his tracks, the former official laundered the funds through exchanges into other cryptocurrencies and paid off his own debts — paying down loans and paying for a car.
The crime was exposed after on July 29, 2026, Yaroch suddenly confessed to colleagues at the Department of Justice. He was immediately suspended from work, fired, and arrested at his own home on July 31.
During searches, it was discovered that the former official was preparing to flee with his family to Portugal: he was buying tickets to Lisbon and arranging powers of attorney for local lawyers. To choose a new country, he consulted the ChatGPT chatbot.
"If you had a 'bucket of money' (about $1 million) and wanted to leave the US and obtain a residence permit or citizenship of an EU country, what would you do?" Yaroch asked the artificial intelligence, to which the bot recommended he pay attention to Portugal.
The US Department of Justice emphasized that Yaroch's actions dealt a serious blow to national security — they compromised dozens of investigations against state hacking groups and criminal networks, and also exposed secret sources and FBI methods.
Sentencing is scheduled for March 4. The former agent faces up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud and another up to 20 years for money laundering.