A U.S. authorities contractor’s son, accused of stealing greater than $46 million in cryptocurrency from the U.S. Marshals Service, was arrested Wednesday on the island of Saint Martin.
The arrest was the results of a joint operation between the FBI and France’s elite Groupe d’Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale, FBI Director Kash Patel introduced on Thursday.
“Final evening, John Daghita – a U.S. authorities contractor who allegedly stole greater than $46 million in cryptocurrency from the united statesMarshals Service – was arrested on the island of Saint Martin by the French Gendarmerie’s premier elite tactical unit in a joint operation with the @FBI,” Patel stated.
“Due to the Worldwide Cooperation Group Severe Crime Unit of the French Gendarmerie Nationwide in Saint Martin, and the Groupe d’intervention de la Gendarmerie nationale of Guadeloupe for the excellent coordination.”
In line with images taken throughout Daghita’s arrest, legislation enforcement officers additionally seized an undisclosed quantity of U.S. {dollars} in $100 financial institution notes, in addition to a number of onerous drives and safety keys.
John Daghita (who makes use of the “Lick” on-line deal with) is the son of Dean Daghita, president and CEO of Command Providers & Help (CMDSS). This Virginia-based agency has been serving to the U.S. Marshals Service handle and get rid of seized digital belongings since October 2024.
These holdings reportedly additionally embody funds tied to the 2016 Bitfinex hack, one of many largest cryptocurrency heists on document, which led to the theft of 120,000 bitcoins from the Hong Kong-based Bitfinex crypto-exchange.
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT broke the case publicly in late January when he revealed an evaluation that traced $23 million in USMS-linked pockets actions to addresses he linked to Daghita, who can be a U.S. authorities contractor, in keeping with Patel.
ZachXBT discovered that Daghita inadvertently uncovered himself throughout a dispute with one other menace actor (often called Dritan Kapplani Jr.) in a recorded non-public Telegram chat, the place he demonstrated the power to maneuver massive sums between two cryptowallets in actual time.
Additional on-chain evaluation subsequently enabled ZachXBT to hyperlink these wallets to government-seized belongings from the Bitfinex hack seizure. After the investigator reported his findings to authorities, Daghita reportedly taunted him repeatedly on Telegram by sending small quantities of the allegedly stolen funds (a tactic often called a “mud assault”) to ZachXBT’s public pockets handle.
“In late January 2026, I uncovered how John stole $ 46M+ in seized crypto belongings from the US authorities by abusing entry at CMDSS, his father’s firm, which held a USMS contract,” ZachXBT stated after Daghita’s arrest.
“John then taunted me a number of occasions through his Telegram channel and mud attacked my public pockets handle with stolen funds. Thanks for the final chortle, John.”
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