FBI picks up John ‘Lick’ Daghita, contractor accused of $46M BTC theft

The government contractor’s son accused of stealing cryptocurrency assets seized by the U.S. government has been apprehended in the Caribbean through the collaboration of the FBI and the French authorities. 

ZachXBT first caught on to John Daghita’s alleged crime after he bragged and showed off his stolen wealth in a Telegram group chat. Daghita was arrested with multiple hardware wallets and stacks of $100 bills. 

How did a government contractor’s son access millions in seized Bitcoin?

John “Lick” Daghita, a government contractor’s son accused of a massive crypto heist, is now in custody following an international manhunt that reached a dramatic conclusion in the Caribbean.

The FBI confirmed that Daghita was apprehended on the island of Saint Martin through the collaborative efforts of the FBI and the French Gendarmerie’s premier elite tactical unit. 

FBI Director Kash Patel announced the arrest on Thursday, March 5, 2026, via social media, stating that the FBI will work 24/7 with international partners to “track down, apprehend, and bring to justice those who attempt to defraud American taxpayers.” 

During the arrest, authorities found Daghita with a metal briefcase containing stacks of $100 bills, multiple hardware wallets, and several USB drives. 

Cryptopolitan previously reported that the incident started at a Virginia-based firm called Command Services & Support (CMDSS) owned by Dean Daghita, the father of the suspect. 

CMDSS holds an active IT contract with the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) that specifically tasks the company with helping the government manage and dispose of seized or forfeited cryptocurrency assets.

Because of this position, the firm had access to wallets that held billions of dollars in digital assets taken from major criminal cases, including the infamous 2016 Bitfinex hack. 

John Daghita then used his access to obtain the information needed to move funds from government-controlled wallets into his own.

The investigation into the breach started in January 2026. On-chain investigator ZachXBT found that a wallet known as 0xc7a2 had received $24.9 million from a U.S. government wallet in March 2024. ZachXBT followed the money further and found another wallet, 0xd8bc, which held approximately $63 million in digital assets obtained during the final quarter of 2025.

CMDSS’s X account, official website, and LinkedIn profiles were all deactivated shortly after the link between John and his father became public, but the FBI still identifies John Daghita as a “government contractor” in official statements.

What led the authorities to the “Lick” alias on Telegram?

Cryptopolitan reported that John Daghita’s downfall was his flamboyant lifestyle and love for showing off his wealth.

For many months, he used the online alias “Lick” and frequently engaged in “brokeshaming” other users on Telegram, but during a heated argument in a group chat with another threat actor named Dritan Kapplani Jr., he caught the attention of ZachXBT. 

Daghita flaunted $23 million in his crypto wallets and moved the funds between different addresses to prove he had control over them.

ZachXBT began tracing the wallet addresses back through the blockchain, and Daghita was exposed. In an effort to cover his tracks, he wiped out his NFT usernames and changed his Telegram screen name. Daghita also allegedly sent small amounts of the stolen Ethereum to ZachXBT’s public wallet to try and implicate him in the crime. 

Recent official reports from the U.S. Marshals Service and DOJ show a growing concern regarding the security of digital assets that are not supported by major exchanges and require specialized contractors for management known as Class 2–4 assets. 

Daghita’s case has prompted calls for a full audit of all government-contracted crypto custody firms to ensure that no other “nepo-babies” have access to the nation’s digital reserves. The U.S. government currently holds over 198,000 BTC. With Bitcoin prices currently hovering near $72,000, the total value of these holdings is tens of billions of dollars.

Daghita is currently being held in Saint Martin and is expected to face extradition to the United States. He will likely face charges related to the theft of government property, wire fraud, and money laundering.

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