French authorities arrested John “Lick” Daghita, who allegedly stole tens of hundreds of thousands in crypto from the U.S. authorities.
In an X submit 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 submit, Patel included pictures of Daghita handcuffed and one other one in all a steel suitcase stuffed with packs of $100 payments and several other USB and what seem like {hardware} crypto wallets.
“[The] FBI will proceed working 24/7 with our worldwide companions to trace down, apprehend, and convey to justice those that try to defraud American taxpayers, regardless of the place they attempt to cover,” Patel mentioned.
The arrest caps off a monthslong investigation by the U.S. Marshals Service into whether or not Daghita, the son of a authorities contractor tasked with managing seized crypto funds, stole over $46 million from authorities seizure wallets.
Brady McCarron, chief of public affairs for the USMS, informed CoinDesk in late January that an investigation into allegations that Daghita had stolen cryptocurrency had been underway.
The legislation enforcement investigation started after blockchain sleuth ZachXBT publicly alleged that Daghita, the son of CMDSS president Dean Daghita, had siphoned tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in digital property from wallets related to U.S. authorities seizures.
CMDSS is a Virginia-based contractor that advertises info know-how and operational help companies for U.S. authorities businesses, together with the Division of Justice and Division of Protection. The corporate has beforehand been reported to carry contracts aiding the USMS with managing and disposing of cryptocurrency seized throughout prison investigations.
The investigator mentioned he alerted authorities after figuring out a pockets holding roughly 12,540 ETH, price greater than $36 million on the time, that he alleged was managed by Daghita.
Daghita first drew consideration in on-line circles after showing in a recorded dispute in a Telegram group chat with one other alleged menace actor in what is named a “band for band” change, the place members try to show management of enormous crypto holdings.
With Daghita now in custody, U.S. authorities are anticipated to pursue extradition because the investigation continues.