US government: officials stole Bitcoins from Silk Road

Two US government investigators were arrested later on Monday. The two are suspected of stealing bitcoins during the investigation into the Silk Road. They would then have kept it for themselves.

It concerns an investigation officer of the Drug Enforcement Administration and an agent of the Secret Service, writes The New York Times. The two did undercover work investigating the Silk Road trading place, which was only accessible via Tor and was frequently used for the sale of drugs. The marketplace has since been rolled up and the founder of the website has been found guilty.

Both agents are charged with fraud and money laundering, according to the New York Times indictment. One of the two, Carl Force, is also accused of stealing government property. They will probably be arrested later on Monday.

Force is said to have stolen a ‘significant amount’ of bitcoins from the marketplace. He then did not transfer these to the government, but booked them to his own account, the government says. It is unclear whether his co-defendant Shaun Bridges did the same, or merely assisted Force.