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DEA and Secret Service Agents Steal Bitcoin from Silk Road

Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:43 PM
Evander Smart
Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:43 PM

silk roadAccording to the New York Times , a Secret Service agent and a former member of the DEA will be indicted on charges of stealing bitcoins during the course of the Silk Road investigation.

Silk Road criminal investigation leads to Bitcoin theft

Working undercover, former agents Carl Mark Force IV, who worked for the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Shaun Bridges, who worked for the Secret Service, will be facing charges for wire fraud, money laundering and stealing government property (Force only). The amount of bitcoins stolen is unknown, but apparently the seizure from Silk Road makes the bitcoins confiscated from Ulbricht and Silk Road government property, creating a felony.

Mr. Force “stole and converted to his own personal use a sizable amount of bitcoins,” which he obtained in his undercover capacity, the government said. “Rather than turning those bitcoin over to the government, Force deposited them into his own personal accounts.” 

A 50-page criminal complaint was unsealed in New York Monday morning and was obtained by The New York Times. Mr. Force was a DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) agent for almost 15 years who resigned last year after the investigation into this matter began. Bridges was a Secret Service agent for about six years and also resigned last year when the investigation began.

Ross Ulbricht was convicted in the Silk Road trail on February 4th of multiple counts. These offenses include distributing narcotics on the Internet and engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, both of which carry potential life sentences. Silk Road is alleged to have generated over $200 million in revenue, which made Ulbricht a multi-millionaire. Katherine B. Forrest, the judge, presiding over this case, is scheduled to sentence Mr. Ulbricht on May 15.