Overview
- Patrick Steven Yaroch, who prosecutors say confessed on July 28, was fired and arrested around July 31 on federal charges for taking cryptocurrency tied to an FBI investigation.
- Federal prosecutors charged him with interstate transportation of stolen goods and receipt of stolen goods, securities and monies and say agents recovered roughly $925,426 from his wallets.
- Court filings allege Yaroch used his Top Secret access to view passphrases stored in FBI systems, memorized recovery phrases and made about 10 to 12 transfers from investigatory wallets into accounts he controlled.
- Investigators seized devices and ChatGPT logs that showed Yaroch asking about investing $1 million and moving to Europe and they found travel planning and Portugal-related documents during searches of his Ashburn, Virginia home.
- The filings describe the stolen wallets as linked to an unnamed adversarial nation — some media outlets report Russia — and the case is renewing scrutiny of federal custody rules for crypto keys and seized digital assets.