BUFFALO, N.Y. – One of America’s top crypto crime investigators was once a star lacrosse player at Nazareth University.

The Washington Post calls Jarod Koopman the “cyber sleuth.” The work of his team has freed kidnapped children, stopped money going to terrorists, and recovered $12 billion for the American government’s general fund.

“Alright, quick bow in. Let’s start with a jog. Let’s get going,” Koopman said to his students.

It’s lunch hour at a dojo just outside Buffalo where Koopman is teaching Jiu Jitsu. It’s an up-close and personal martial art form where tiny pressure points and the slightest twist get you a pin.

Most of his students here are police.

His day and night job is to lead a team that investigates a crime with ties to cryptocurrency, the dark web, and anything that touches the internet. And he does it for the IRS, a department that an August 2024 Pew Research study found to have the highest unfavorable rating of any federal agency. 

“You get sideways looks when you say you work for the IRS?” News10NBC’s Berkeley Brean asked.

“Sometimes,” Koopman said laughing.

They think he’s the tax man, but they don’t know what he does. His team investigates some of the most sophisticated crime rings in the world. The Washington Post profile explains how Koopman’s team broke one of the biggest child sex trafficking rings in the world called “Welcome to Video.” It was funded by Bitcoin. 

“We ended up arresting ultimately over 370 worldwide,” said Koopman. And rescued two dozen children.

Berkeley Brean: “One of the cases you worked on a lead stopped money from going to Hamas.”

Jarod Koopman: “In that case there was money being funneled to terrorism campaigns that we were able to uncover and ultimately stop. All of it was being done in cryptocurrency.”

This is a long way from his office in Buffalo to accounting classes and lacrosse matches at Nazareth University. Rob Randall coached Koopman, even making him captain three years in a row. Koopman is in the Nazareth Hall of Fame, class of 2021.

“At that time, did you think you would be coaching one of the top cyber crypto sleuths in the American government?” Berkeley asked.

“I didn’t even know what means,” Randall laughed. “I’m still not quite sure what it means. So no, I didn’t expect that for sure. But with his background and his work ethic and the whole character piece, it’s not surprising at all.”

“I think Nazareth University prepared me for both the rigors of a career but also it’s a small town, small feel university. So, you really keep that sense of the impact you can have at a community, national, and global scale,” said Koopman.

Koopman joined the IRS out of school. One of his first big cases was a property assessment conspiracy between the town of Greece, Kodak, and a private appraiser. In the last four years, his team’s work has seized $12 billion in crimes online. They find the pressure points, add the slightest twist, and make the arrest.

“For 20 years of my career, 15 years of my career, we always knew the individual and were trying to prove the crime,” Koopman said. “And now we actually know the crime and we’re trying to prove the individual.”

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