An FBI agent has been fired and arrested after allegedly stealing more than $900,000 in cryptocurrency from accounts the agency was monitoring during a national security investigation. According to court records made public on Monday (August 3), Patrick Steven Yaroch, a supervisory agent based in Washington, D.C., accessed the digital funds while working on a team focused on activity linked to an "adversarial nation" and became frustrated by what he viewed as government inaction regarding the misuse of crypto accounts.

Using his internal FBI access, Yaroch allegedly transferred the cryptocurrency to his own personal account. The FBI stated it took immediate action once the allegations surfaced, launching an internal investigation and ultimately arresting Yaroch last week. He is charged with interstate transportation and receipt of stolen property, but has not been formally charged with theft of the cryptocurrency itself, according to court documents.

The affidavit in the case highlights how both artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency are influencing modern criminal investigations. In the month before his arrest, Yaroch reportedly used ChatGPT to ask, "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?" The AI responded with detailed advice tailored to his age and desire for a slower lifestyle in Europe.

Yaroch admitted to colleagues and investigators that he withdrew funds from monitored accounts using passcodes obtained during the investigation, beginning in either 2024 or 2025 and making up to a dozen transactions. He confessed to a Department of Justice employee that the situation was "eating him up inside," and told FBI agents interviewing him at his home, "I (expletive) up," according to the affidavit.

A spokesperson for the FBI said, "We hold our employees to the highest ethical standards, and this conduct is not tolerated at the FBI. We are conducting a thorough investigation in the aftermath, and as this is an ongoing matter, we will have no further comment."

Yaroch's legal representation was not listed in court records, and the investigation remains ongoing.

Simon Conway