Over $ 3 billion worth of bitcoin seized by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) on the Silk Road is likely linked to a former US intelligence agent. The latest findings suggest that “Individual X” is actually Shaun Bridges.
Bridges are to be freed in November
According to recent court records cited by Fortune, the 69,370 bitcoins that law enforcement officials took may also have ties to Carl Mark Force IV, a former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) official. Both agents were part of the investigation in connection with the now defunct darknet market.
While the report cannot be viewed as legal confirmation of Bridges’ relationship with the seized BTC, Fortune pointed out that some pointers in a DOJ statement shed some light on the darkness:
Individual Xs could hack into the Silk Road, gain unauthorized and illegal access to the Silk Road and thereby steal the illegal cryptocurrency.
It’s worth noting that the embarrassed US intelligence agent was convicted of using an informant’s credentials in the Silk Road case to steal BTC from the vendors. He was sentenced to 71 months in prison in 2015.
After that, Bridges served another two-year prison sentence in 2017 after pleading guilty of money laundering. He is expected to be a free man by November 2021 as he is still in federal prison in Nashville.
The disgraced US agent likely has secret crypto wallets
However, further evidence emerged throughout the case after some reports made headlines in 2016. Bridges unsuccessfully planned to flee the country when he tried to apply for citizenship abroad.
Fortune says such a flight schedule could suggest that he may have other secret crypto wallets to fund his escape.
As of now, the “Individual X” wallet contains a similar amount – the confiscated BTC – in other cryptos such as Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bitcoin Gold (BTG) and Bitcoinsv (BSV).
According to court records, Ross Ulbricht, who is the mastermind behind the Silk Road according to the U.S. government and currently serving a double life sentence, stated that he would not bring any legal claims confiscated by BTC.
In November 2020, our news desk published a detailed outlook of the Bitcoin address of the Silk Road, which was seized by the US authorities.
What do you think of a possible connection between the embarrassed secret service agent and the seized bitcoins of the Silk Road? Let us know in the comments below.
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