A Federal Bureau of Investigation agent allegedly stole approximately $1 million in seized cryptocurrencies before turning himself in, according to court records unsealed this week.

The documents identify the agent as Patrick Steven Yaroch, who served as an FBI Supervisory Special Agent in the FBI Headquarters Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. According to an affidavit filed in a U.S. district court in Virginia, Yaroch claimed he "was frustrated that the FBI could not or would not act against adversarial cryptocurrency accounts."

Court records state that Yaroch proceeded to "take matters into his own hands," transferring $925,426.07 in cryptocurrency to his personal wallets across numerous transactions. The case underscores the custody challenges law enforcement agencies face when seizing digital assets, where control of private keys effectively grants the ability to move funds without traditional banking intermediaries.

The affidavit also cites Yaroch's ChatGPT search history, which allegedly included inquiries about retiring in Portugal with his wife. He ultimately confessed his actions to a Department of Justice employee.

"Yaroch told DOJ employee 1 that he made some very poor decisions related to cryptocurrency wallets," the court documents state. "Yaroch said that he went into FBI systems and found keys needed to transfer money from wallets to himself."

A motion for a detention order, made public on Tuesday, stated: "The weight of the evidence against the defendant is strong. He confessed to stealing the cryptocurrency from the adverse nations' wallets."

Court filings further allege that Yaroch "previously had access to some of the nation's most secret and important information. He then chose to misuse this information to steal money, for his own financial gain."

The defendant has been charged with two felonies, each carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years of incarceration.

The adversarial nation referenced in the documents has not been publicly named.

According to the court documents, Yaroch held a small amount of Bitcoin in a Kraken account, while the vast majority of the funds involved were held in stablecoins — cryptocurrencies pegged to fiat currencies such as the U.S. dollar that, despite their price stability, leave permanent transaction records on public blockchains.

Yaroch, a resident of Ashburn, Virginia, was dismissed from the FBI on July 31. Investigations remain ongoing.

The court docket is publicly accessible via CourtListener.

This article was originally published by Bitcoin Magazine and written by Mathew Di Salvo.