FBI agent accused of stealing $1 million in crypto, allegedly turned to ChatGPT for vacation plans

An FBI agent was arrested after allegedly stealing about $1 million in cryptocurrency from "adversarial cryptocurrency accounts," later admitting to federal investigators that he had "f**ked up."

Patrick Yaroch was arrested Friday after allegedly confessing to stealing cryptocurrency beginning in late 2024 or early 2025. According to an affidavit filed Aug. 1, Yaroch said he discovered keys that allowed him to transfer funds from digital wallets to himself. He told investigators he was frustrated that he could not do more to prevent someone from an "adversarial nation" from using cryptocurrency, and made about a dozen transfers.

He told a Department of Justice employee that he "made some very poor decisions related to cryptocurrency wallets," and in a separate instance freely told federal agents interviewing him that he had "f**ked up."

Yaroch was a supervisory special agent working at the FBI headquarters' counterintelligence and espionage division and before that worked in the agency's Boston division. He was fired by the FBI on July 31.

Yaroch said that he had mixed his personal and crypto funds together. The FBI also said that Yaroch relied on ChatGPT to figure out what to do with the funds, including how to spend or invest a million dollars, and asked about leaving the U.S. to go to a country in Europe, according to the affidavit.

"ChatGPT responded, 'Given everything you’ve told me – [name of YAROCH’s child], your wife, the desire for a 2-5 hectare estate, interest in age-worthy red wine, and the goal of actually living there rather than just owning a property- I would not start by chasing citizenship…What I would do with $1 million Option 1: Portugal (my top choice for your specific situation),'" according to the affidavit.

The affidavit also says Yaroch had purchased a ticket to Portugal departing Sept. 3, along with a return flight.

Yaroch has been charged with interstate transportation of stolen goods and receipt of stolen goods, securities and money, according to a court document.