The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced that it had made an arrest related to the theft of more than $46 million in cryptocurrency from the US Marshals Service.
In a Thursday X post, FBI Director Kash Patel said that the bureau had arrested John Daghita, the son of Command Services & Support (CMDSS) president Dean Daghita, after he allegedly gained unauthorized access to wallets managed under the federal asset protection program. Patel said the arrest was carried out by the “French Gendarmerie’s premier elite tactical unit” with the FBI on the island of Saint Martin in the Caribbean.
Patel’s social media post with a photo of a handcuffed Daghita, also included a photo of a suitcase containing cash, several thumb drives, a phone and three devices resembling Trezor hardware wallets. The FBI director did not disclose whether any of the stolen funds had been recovered.
The alleged crypto theft was reported in January by online sleuth ZachXBT, who said that he had traced a wallet linked to Daghita holding about $23 million in digital assets connected to $90 million reportedly seized by the US government in 2024 and 2025. Daghita’s father heads CMDSS, which was awarded a contract by the US Marshals Service in 2024 related to the custody of the seized crypto.
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The US Marshals Service confirmed that it was investigating the matter at the time. Patrick Witt, the director of the White House Crypto Council, said in a Jan. 26 X post that he was “on it,” referencing ZachXBT’s claims. Witt had not publicly commented on the arrest as of Thursday.
According to data from BitcoinTreasuries.NET, US authorities, including the Marshals Service, may hold as much as 328,372 Bitcoin (BTC) through various seizures.
South Korean authorities make two arrests related to seized crypto
Daghita’s arrest is the latest example of global law enforcement efforts to recover previously seized assets.
In February, police in South Korea arrested two people allegedly connected to a case in which authorities lost access to 22 BTC, worth about $1.6 million at the time of publication.
The crypto was reportedly stolen after police seized the assets from a hack on a South Korean exchange in 2021, storing them on a cold wallet owned by a third party.
Earlier this week, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol said the government and relevant agencies will “conduct an inspection of the current status and management practices of digital assets held and managed by the government and public institutions,” according to local media reports.
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