- An FBI counterintelligence agent was arrested on allegations that he embezzled greater than $1 million in cryptocurrency obtained throughout an investigation.
- The agent allegedly extracted cryptocurrency non-public keys from the FBI’s laptop programs and transferred property from accounts belonging to international nationals into his personal accounts in as many as 12 transactions.
- Investigators mentioned Yarmuth moved the property via crypto change Kraken and Suilend, a decentralized finance platform constructed on the Sui blockchain.
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An FBI counterintelligence agent based mostly on the bureau’s headquarters has been arrested on allegations that he siphoned off cryptocurrency obtained throughout an investigation.
CoinDesk reported on August 3 that Patrick Stephen Yarmuth, a supervisory particular agent in the FBI headquarters’ counterintelligence and espionage unit, was arrested on July 31 on prices of embezzling greater than $1 million in cryptocurrency. An indictment filed in the US District Courtroom for the Japanese District of Virginia says Yarmuth turned himself in to fellow brokers.
The indictment says Yarmuth took non-public keys for cryptocurrency wallets from the FBI’s laptop programs and transferred property from accounts belonging to particular international nationals into his personal accounts in as many as 12 transactions. Yarmuth was a senior agent with top-secret clearance who labored in a unit devoted to investigations involving a chosen hostile state.
Investigators mentioned Yarmuth moved the stolen property via crypto change Kraken and Suilend, a decentralized finance platform constructed on the Sui blockchain. An FBI evaluate of his laptop and telephone data additionally discovered that he entered a question into a man-made intelligence app asking how he might depart the US and settle in a European Union nation if he had about $1 million. The app really useful Portugal as the best choice, and investigators confirmed that Yarmuth’s household was planning a visit there subsequent month.
Authorities additionally discovered that Yarmuth had just lately traveled to Germany, Portugal and Grenada in violation of inside FBI guidelines. He’s being held in Alexandria, Virginia.
