Former US agents charged for bitcoin theft during Silk Road probe
The U.S. Justice Department announced charges on Monday against two former federal agents accused of stealing the digital currency bitcoin during the investigation of the underground drug marketplace Silk Road.
Carl Force, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent, and Shaun Bridges, a special agent with the Secret Service, were charged in a criminal complaint filed in San Francisco federal court with offenses including wire fraud and money laundering. Silk Road was an underground website where people bought drugs and other illicit goods using bitcoin digital currency. By the time authorities shut it down in October 2013, Silk Road had generated around $200 million in sales, prosecutors said. Authorities said it was operated by Ross Ulbricht, 30, under the alias "Dread Pirate Roberts." A federal jury in Manhattan found Ulbricht guilty in February of charges including conspiracy to commit drug trafficking and money laundering.
