Secret Service Agent Guilty Of Stealing $300,000 Worth Of Bitcoins
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The Secret Service has another embarrassing situation to explain as the temptation to steal was apparently too much for former agent Shaun Bridges. As part of the 2013 operation to bring down the notorious “dark” website Silk Road, Bridges used his access to the computer files of the website to help himself to $300,000 worth of bitcoins. He has plead guilty to charges of money laundering and obstruction of justice.
Bridges’ scheme was straightforward and very profitable. After Silk Road admin Curtis Green was arrested in January 2013, he debriefed agents in Baltimore. Bridges took his admin credentials, logged in, and started locking Silk Road drug dealers out of their accounts. He then looted the accounts, grabbing about 20,000 Bitcoins, and put them into his own account. US District Judge Richard Seeborg read out each of the government accusations against Bridges in court today, and the man responded “yes sir,” acknowledging he had committed each of the acts. Bridges moved the Bitcoins into his Mt. Gox account. They were worth more than $300,000 at the time of the theft. Bridges moved the money into a Fideltity account called Quantum International Investments LLC between March and May of that year. By then, the bitcoins were worth about $820,000.
Sentencing has yet to take place but it is doubtful that Bridges will face the same fate as the founder of Silk Road.
Silk Road operated for nearly three years and was the largest website of its kind on the dark Web. Its creator, Ross Ulbricht, was tried and convicted earlier this year on charges of conspiracy to aid in drug trafficking, money laundering, and computer hacking. He was sentenced to life in prison.
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