A supervisory FBI special agent with top secret security clearance has been arrested and charged with stealing more than $1 million in cryptocurrency from wallets belonging to individuals investigated by the agency, according to a federal court filing.
The agent, identified as Patrick Steven Yarmoch, allegedly turned himself in to colleagues and admitted to extracting private keys from FBI systems to make as many as a dozen unauthorized transfers to his own accounts from wallets tied to foreign individuals under investigation. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on August 1.
Access and Exploitation
Yarmoch worked in the FBI's counterintelligence and espionage division at the agency's Washington headquarters, focusing on an unnamed adversary nation. He had previously served for years in a Boston-based national security unit investigating the same foreign target.
According to the court filing, Yarmoch held a top secret security clearance and used his access to investigative files — which included seized wallet information and private keys — to identify and drain cryptocurrency from accounts connected to individuals he was responsible for investigating.
He reportedly used accounts at crypto exchange Kraken and Suilend, the decentralized finance protocol on the Sui blockchain, via a Slush wallet to receive the stolen funds.
Planned Relocation
FBI searches of Yarmoch's computer and phone records revealed queries made to AI applications, including: "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 reportedly recommended Portugal as a destination. Investigators subsequently located travel plans for Yarmoch and his family to travel to Portugal in September. He had also taken undisclosed trips to Germany, Portugal, and Grenada in violation of FBI internal reporting requirements.
Arrest and Detention
Yarmoch was suspended for several days before being fired and formally arrested on July 31. He is currently held in detention in Alexandria, Virginia.
The case underscores a significant insider threat risk within law enforcement agencies handling cryptocurrency investigations, where access to seized assets and wallet data creates opportunities for misuse that traditional evidence controls may not adequately address.
It also highlights the growing intersection of crypto investigations and national security, as federal agencies expand their focus on adversary nations' use of digital assets for sanctions evasion, money laundering, and intelligence operations.