John “Lick” Daghita has been arrested and charged with stealing roughly $46 million in cryptocurrency from the U.S. Marshals Service, according to an announcement from the FBI.
Daghita was detained on the Caribbean island of St. Martin while carrying a metal briefcase containing cash, along with several hard drives and security keys, authorities said.
The alleged theft was first exposed in January by blockchain investigator ZachXBT, who linked the stolen funds to crypto seized by U.S. authorities from the 2016 Bitfinex hack.
ZachXBT said on-chain data showed Daghita moving about $23 million worth of crypto, mainly in Ethereum, across multiple wallets while allegedly boasting about the theft in private chats.
Daghita’s father, Dean Daghita, is the president of CMDSS, a firm that provides services to U.S. government agencies including the Justice Department and Department of Defense.
The arrest followed a joint operation between the FBI and a French military tactical unit, according to FBI Director Kash Patel.
“FBI will continue working 24/7 with our international partners to track down, apprehend, and bring to justice those who attempt to defraud American taxpayers,”
Patel said.
At the time of reporting, Ethereum price was $2,076.23.