Two former federal agents, one from the DEA and one from the U.S. Secret Service, have been accused of stealing Bitcoins after millions of dollars were seized from the online drug bazaar Silk Road.
The agents have been charged with wire fraud, money laundering and other offenses for the alleged theft, which took place before and after the raid that took down the black market in 2013.
DEA agent Carl Force was the lead agent in the murder-for-hire case against convicted Silk Road operator Ross Ulbricht and U.S. Secret Service agent Shaun Bridges was a computer forensics expert on the case.
Allegedly, Force set up fake online profiles in attempts to extort funds from Ulbricht. At one point, Force extorted $100,000 in Bitcoin from Ulbricht, which was deposited to his personal accounts and later wired to an account in Panama to launder the funds.
Additionally, Force was an investor in CoinMKT, and he used his position as an executive to illegally seize accounts and Bitcoin, taking as much as $297,000.
Bridges allegedly stole $820,000 from Silk Road and was also the person who signed off on the seizure of about $33 million in bitcoin from Ulbricht and the Silk Road.
Source:
CNN
DEA agent Carl Force was the lead agent in the murder-for-hire case against convicted Silk Road operator Ross Ulbricht and U.S. Secret Service agent Shaun Bridges was a computer forensics expert on the case.
Allegedly, Force set up fake online profiles in attempts to extort funds from Ulbricht. At one point, Force extorted $100,000 in Bitcoin from Ulbricht, which was deposited to his personal accounts and later wired to an account in Panama to launder the funds.
Additionally, Force was an investor in CoinMKT, and he used his position as an executive to illegally seize accounts and Bitcoin, taking as much as $297,000.
Bridges allegedly stole $820,000 from Silk Road and was also the person who signed off on the seizure of about $33 million in bitcoin from Ulbricht and the Silk Road.
Source:
CNN
