French authorities arrested John “Lick” Daghita, who allegedly stole tens of millions in crypto from the U.S. govt.
In an X put up on Thursday, FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed Daghita had been arrested on Wednesday on the island of Saint Martin in a joint FBI and French Gendarmerie operation.
In his social media put up, Patel incorporated photos of Daghita handcuffed and one other one in all a metallic suitcase crammed with packs of $100 bills and several other USB and what appear to be hardware crypto wallets.
“[The] FBI will continue working 24/7 with our global companions to track down, apprehend, and lift to justice these that strive and defraud American taxpayers, regardless of the put they’re trying and veil,” Patel said.
The arrest caps off a monthslong investigation by the U.S. Marshals Provider into whether or no longer Daghita, the son of a govt contractor tasked with managing seized crypto funds, stole over $46 million from govt seizure wallets.
Brady McCarron, chief of public affairs for the USMS, told CoinDesk in unhurried January that an investigation into allegations that Daghita had stolen cryptocurrency were underway.
The regulation enforcement investigation began after blockchain sleuth ZachXBT publicly alleged that Daghita, the son of CMDSS president Dean Daghita, had siphoned tens of millions of bucks in digital resources from wallets connected to U.S. govt seizures.
CMDSS is a Virginia-basically based totally totally contractor that advertises recordsdata technology and operational toughen services for U.S. govt companies, including the Division of Justice and Division of Protection. The corporate has previously been reported to retain contracts assisting the USMS with managing and casting off cryptocurrency seized accurate by criminal investigations.
The investigator said he alerted authorities after figuring out a pockets conserving roughly 12,540 ETH, value greater than $36 million on the time, that he alleged modified into managed by Daghita.
Daghita first drew consideration in on-line circles after acting in a recorded dispute in a Telegram team chat with one other alleged menace actor in what is named a “band for band” commerce, the put contributors strive and point out management of extensive crypto holdings.
With Daghita now in custody, U.S. authorities are anticipated to pursue extradition because the investigation continues.
