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trampis
mad hatter


Registered: 01/01/06
Posts: 3,545
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Corrupt agent who investigated Silk Road is suspected of another $700k heist
#23409206 - 07/04/16 03:04 AM (7 years, 6 months ago) |
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Source.
Newly unsealed court documents have revealed that one of the corrupt federal agents investigating Silk Road, the online drug marketplace, is suspected of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bitcoin—after he pleaded guilty last year.
Shaun Bridges is one of two agents who pled guilty to stealing from the Darknet market. Bridges stole about $800,000 worth of bitcoins from Silk Road drug dealers after he and a partner arrested a Silk Road admin and learned how to reset passwords. That led to Ross Ulbricht, who was convicted of running Silk Road in February 2015, attempting to order the murder of the admin, Curtis Green. Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison last year. Shaun Bridges was captured by CCTV security cameras, leaving a Secret Service field office with a large bag. The government said the bag may have contained hard drives with keys needed to access his Bitstamp wallet. Newly unsealed court documents have revealed that one of the corrupt federal agents investigating Silk Road, the online drug marketplace, is suspected of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bitcoin—after he pleaded guilty last year.
Shaun Bridges is one of two agents who pled guilty to stealing from the Darknet market. Bridges stole about $800,000 worth of bitcoins from Silk Road drug dealers after he and a partner arrested a Silk Road admin and learned how to reset passwords. That led to Ross Ulbricht, who was convicted of running Silk Road in February 2015, attempting to order the murder of the admin, Curtis Green. Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison last year.
Bridges' scam was later discovered, though. The former Secret Service agent, who served on a Baltimore-based task force investigating Silk Road, was arrested in March 2015 and pled guilty a few months later. In January, Bridges was arrested again just one day before he was scheduled to turn himself in. The documents unsealed Thursday shed light on why the second arrest took place.
Access not denied
In November 2014, the US Attorney in Maryland seized 1606 bitcoins, worth about $600,000 (£400,000) at the time, from various accounts at a company called Bitstamp. Bridges was the affiant on the warrant, and the funds were put into a Bitcoin wallet he created. Later, some of the account owners "disputed the legality of the warrant," according to an affidavit (PDF) signed by by IRS Special Agent Tigran Gambaryan, who headed up the Northern California-based investigation of Bridges' crimes. In September 2015, a federal court in Maryland ordered the US Secret Service to return $30,616 worth of bitcoins to the affected Bitstamp clients.
When the Secret Service accessed the wallet, however, the the bitcoins were gone. They'd been moved on July 28, after Bridges signed his guilty plea.
The affidavit doesn't outright state that Bridges took the money, but it looks mighty suspicious. It's possible that other employees had access, but "at present the only individual that is conclusively known to have access was Bridges." Secret Service had never revoked Bridges' access to the wallet, even after he had been arrested and the agents were warned to do so. About a dozen other Secret Service employees were interviewed and all reported they did not have access to the wallet.
The stolen money was moved into an account at BTC-e associated with the e-mail account "branstein.gustaf@outlook.com." BTC-e is an unregistered foreign Bitcoin exchange that "operates without appropriate anti-money laundering" policies, according to the government. BTC-e ultimately did provide some records, but the logs showed that the money was accessed through Tor and run through a Bitcoin tumbler. When he was a federal agent, Bridges was a specialist in tumbler and the user of Tor.
The affidavit also recounts how Bridges petitioned a Maryland state court to change his name from "Shaun Wesley Bridges" to "Calogero Esposito." (Bridges' wife's last name is Esposito). Bridges, who sought to have the name change sealed from the public record, neglected to mention that he had been arrested and was scheduled to plead guilty to money-laundering charges. His petition for a name change was denied, but he re-petitioned two more times.
Bridges' PayPal account also showed that he had attempted to order a birth certificate from a company that claims to provide German documents.
The affidavit also asks for a warrant to obtain records from Microsoft related to the "branstein.gustaf@outlook.com" address, saying there's probable cause the account was related to the theft.
While the documents lay out what the government was thinking in late January, there's no indication of where the investigation proceeded after that. Bridges has begun serving his original sentence at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. It isn't clear if or when additional charges will be filed against him.
 Shaun Bridges was captured by CCTV security cameras, leaving a Secret Service field office with a large bag. The government said the bag may have contained hard drives with keys needed to access his Bitstamp wallet.
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Supachopped719
Stranger


Registered: 10/16/13
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Re: Corrupt agent who investigated Silk Road is suspected of another $700k heist [Re: trampis]
#23409868 - 07/04/16 10:22 AM (7 years, 6 months ago) |
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So he stole the coin, got caught, had the coin seized, then stole it back?
-------------------- Real Eyes Realize Real Lies.
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musiclover420
psychonaut



Registered: 11/06/12
Posts: 19,563
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 2 years, 5 months
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Re: Corrupt agent who investigated Silk Road is suspected of another $700k heist [Re: Supachopped719]
#23411003 - 07/04/16 04:42 PM (7 years, 6 months ago) |
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This is a prime example of what's wrong with this country...
-------------------- Don't worry about me, I've got all that I need. And I'm singing my song to the sky You know how it feels, With the breeze of the sun in your eyes. Not minding that time's passing by I've got all and more, My smile, just as before. Is all that I carry with me I talk to myself, I need nobody else. I'm lost and I'm mine, yes I'm free
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Murzelpfrumpft
pet donkey in a lucid dream

Registered: 08/09/12
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Re: Corrupt agent who investigated Silk Road is suspected of another $700k heist [Re: musiclover420]
#23411783 - 07/04/16 08:26 PM (7 years, 6 months ago) |
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Looks like he may get away with it, if he ever manages to retrieve the money when he gets out. Is that even possible? I guess he'll be heavily surveillanced and bitcoin might go down the drain until then. What's the time hes doing, anyway? More than 5 years?
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musiclover420
psychonaut



Registered: 11/06/12
Posts: 19,563
Loc: PNW
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Re: Corrupt agent who investigated Silk Road is suspected of another $700k heist [Re: Murzelpfrumpft]
#23411822 - 07/04/16 08:43 PM (7 years, 6 months ago) |
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I don't see his sentence in the article anywhere...
Maybe I missed it but it repeats Ulbrich got life twice in the article and I see no mention of what this guy got...
-------------------- Don't worry about me, I've got all that I need. And I'm singing my song to the sky You know how it feels, With the breeze of the sun in your eyes. Not minding that time's passing by I've got all and more, My smile, just as before. Is all that I carry with me I talk to myself, I need nobody else. I'm lost and I'm mine, yes I'm free
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Wingman4l7
Thinks Before He Posts


Registered: 06/11/06
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Re: Corrupt agent who investigated Silk Road is suspected of another $700k heist [Re: musiclover420]
#23417781 - 07/06/16 05:32 PM (7 years, 6 months ago) |
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Shaun Bridges got sentenced to 71 months in prison -- 1 month short of 6 years.
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musiclover420
psychonaut



Registered: 11/06/12
Posts: 19,563
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 2 years, 5 months
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Re: Corrupt agent who investigated Silk Road is suspected of another $700k heist [Re: Wingman4l7]
#23417826 - 07/06/16 05:43 PM (7 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
Wingman4l7 said: Shaun Bridges got sentenced to 71 months in prison -- 1 month short of 6 years.
Its a bit sickening that is all he got meanwhile tons of people are rotting in prison for getting busted with a joint or a little weed.
At least he got something though... 6 years is certainly a long chunk of time but when you compare it to some non violent drug convictions...
-------------------- Don't worry about me, I've got all that I need. And I'm singing my song to the sky You know how it feels, With the breeze of the sun in your eyes. Not minding that time's passing by I've got all and more, My smile, just as before. Is all that I carry with me I talk to myself, I need nobody else. I'm lost and I'm mine, yes I'm free
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5150
phantom

Registered: 09/01/06
Posts: 5,437
Last seen: 4 years, 2 months
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Re: Corrupt agent who investigated Silk Road is suspected of another $700k heist [Re: musiclover420]
#23418331 - 07/06/16 08:45 PM (7 years, 6 months ago) |
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probably some federal kindegarton camp,gov is just rife with thieves,they become cops to get way with crime,look at oakland like 30 cops passing around a underage ho like a joint
-------------------- "the way of the warrior is the resolute acceptance of death" Miyamoto Musashi
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