A former FBI supervisory special agent has been charged with stealing nearly $1 million in cryptocurrency from wallets connected to FBI counterintelligence investigations, according to court documents that also reveal he consulted ChatGPT for advice on investing the funds and relocating overseas.

On Friday, Patrick Steven Yaroch was charged with interstate transportation of stolen goods and receipt of stolen goods. Prosecutors allege the thefts took place between early 2025 and July 2026, during which time Yaroch worked in the FBI's Counterintelligence and Espionage Division and held a Top Secret security clearance.

According to the criminal complaint, Yaroch initiated contact with a Department of Justice employee on the afternoon of July 28, 2026, sending a message via Signal requesting a meeting to discuss personal matters. "Upon meeting DOJ Employee 1 at FBI headquarters, Yaroch immediately started to break down as he told his story," prosecutors stated.

Investigators say Yaroch admitted to accessing FBI systems in order to obtain cryptocurrency wallet seed phrases tied to investigations involving an unnamed foreign adversary. Seed phrases—sequences of words that serve as master keys to cryptocurrency wallets—grant anyone who possesses them full control over the associated funds, making them a prime target in crypto-related thefts. Yaroch allegedly memorized the recovery phrases, created his own cryptocurrency wallet, and transferred funds into accounts under his control on approximately 10 separate occasions. He told investigators that the holdings eventually grew to about $1 million.

During searches of Yaroch's home and electronic devices, investigators recovered a Trezor hardware wallet along with handwritten cryptocurrency seed phrases. Trezor is one of the most widely used brands of hardware wallets, which are designed to store cryptocurrency private keys offline. According to the affidavit, agents discovered a Kraken account holding a balance of approximately $188,570, consisting of roughly $166,000 in U.S. dollars, nearly $18,000 in USDC, and small amounts of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The gap between the approximately $1 million Yaroch described and the balance recovered suggests a significant portion of the funds remain unaccounted for.

Investigators also recovered several ChatGPT conversations from Yaroch's phone. According to the affidavit, on May 28 he asked the AI assistant how he should invest or spend $1 million "to maximize profit and return." Less than a week later, he asked what someone with approximately $1 million should do to leave the United States and become a resident or citizen of a European Union country. Subsequent queries included whether Americans need a visa when connecting through Turkey and requests for help drafting a follow-up email regarding a job opportunity and life in Greece. The use of a consumer AI chatbot to research investment strategies and international relocation highlights how such tools can create durable records of a user's planning activity—records that in this case became key evidence for prosecutors.

Investigators further uncovered evidence of a planned family trip to Portugal, power-of-attorney documents related to Portugal, and what prosecutors described as previously unreported foreign travel. Prosecutors contend that this evidence, combined with Yaroch's admissions and the recovered cryptocurrency, established probable cause for his arrest on July 31.

"FBI WF Agents mentioned to Yaroch that they located the power of attorney forms for Portugal," the complaint said. "Yaroch stated he was not planning to funnel money into Portugal. Yaroch told FBI WF Agents that his family had a trip planned to Portugal in September 2026 to meet friends. Yaroch realized he might not be able to attend the trip but stated he hoped his wife and child would still go on the trip."