Suspect Accused of Stealing U.S. Government-Controlled Crypto Assets Arrested

Odaily News: French GIGN tactical units and FBI agents conducted a joint operation on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin, arresting John Daghita, known online as "John" or "Lick," who is suspected of stealing crypto assets from a U.S. government-controlled wallet. FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the arrest on social media, posting photos of the seized hardware wallet and a briefcase containing a large amount of U.S. dollar cash.

The case originated from the disappearance of over $20 million worth of cryptocurrency from a federally managed wallet in October 2024. These assets had been previously seized during the investigation into the 2016 Bitfinex exchange hack. Blockchain analysis traced approximately $24.9 million of the original seized funds to addresses controlled by the suspect, which belong to a larger cluster of addresses managing over $90 million in suspicious assets.

The investigation progressed due to the work of blockchain researcher ZachXBT, who publicly tracked the transaction flow related to the compromised government wallet in January 2026. The suspect's father, Dean Daghita, is the president of Command Services & Support, a company that secured a contract with the U.S. Marshals Service in October 2024 to oversee the custody and liquidation of specific categories of seized cryptocurrency. This connection has prompted scrutiny regarding potential internal system access.