John Daghita was arrested by the FBI in St. Martin after ZachXBT exposed his scheme in January, accused of stealing $46 million worth of cryptocurrency from a US Attorney's Office seizure.
A cryptocurrency theft targeting a U.S. government confiscated asset vault has culminated in a dramatic arrest in the Caribbean. John “Lick” Daghita was apprehended Wednesday night on the island of St. Martinby the FBI in cooperation with an elite French military task force, following months of pursuit. At the time of his arrest, he was carrying a metal briefcase containing stacks of $100 bills, along with multiple hard drives and security locking devices.
Daghita is accused of stealing approximately $46 million worth of cryptocurrency from the U.S. Attorney's Office – the agency responsible for managing seized assets related to federal crimes.
Daghita is the son of Dean Daghita, chairman of CMDSS, a company that provides critical services to numerous federal agencies, including the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense. FBI Director Kash Patel also suggested on social media that John Daghita himself may have been a government contractor, although the specific connection to his father's company remains unclear.
Chainalysis determined that the stolen funds were linked to crypto assets seized by the US government in 2024 following the 2016 hack of the notorious Bitfinex exchange.
From chain to cash pair: ZachXBT leads the way for the FBI.
The case was publicly revealed by anonymous blockchain investigator ZachXBT in January, before the FBI officially got involved.
ZachXBT released group chat logs and on-chain transaction data showing that Daghita boasted to other hackers about money stolen from the U.S. government, even transferring approximately $23 million – primarily in Ethereum – through multiple wallets to prove to a mocking opponent that he actually held a large amount of wealth. Following the public accusation, the U.S. Attorney's Office confirmed it was conducting an active investigation.
Daghita's reaction to the public accusation further exposed his recklessness: he mocked ZachXBT via Telegram and deliberately sent a small amount of stolen cryptocurrency to the investigator's wallet, a tactic known as "dusting"—aiming to link someone else's wallet to illicit funds and mislead investigators. This tactic did not yield the desired results.
On Thursday morning, after the arrest was announced, FBI Director Patel affirmed that the agency would continue to cooperate internationally to track down and prosecute individuals attempting to defraud American taxpayers, regardless of their hiding place. Meanwhile, ZachXBT, the individual who triggered the entire chain with a blockchain report, posted only one sentence on X: "Thanks for the last laugh, John."
