A corrupt FBI agent is planning to extort $71m from Silk Road mastermind Ross Ulbricht, according to new allegations from a former Silk Road advisor.
In a forum post issued this weekend and later publicized by Motherboard, Variety Jones, an account understood to belong to one of Silk Road’s key advisors, released details of his alleged correspondence with an agent known as ‘Diamond’.
In it, he claims the FBI employee – a seasoned extortioner – has obtained a forgotten Silk Road wallet said to contain more than 300,000 BTC ($71.4m), and that he sought to use blackmail and torture as a means to gain custody of the funds.
Though the post was issued by the Variety Jones account, a subsequent investigation by VICE published earlier this month identified the man as a 50-year-old Canadian man named Roger or Thomas Clark.
The FBI agent purportedly contacted Clark due to what he assumed was his inside knowledge of Silk Road, offering to establish a safe house in Singapore for an exchange of information to take place.
The post reads:
“My back of the envelope calculations for SR [Silk Road] show that there was easily close to 400,000 BTC that wasn’t accounted for yet. I certainly don’t have it, it’s gotta be somewhere, and Diamond is certainly willing to move heaven and earth to get the passphrase for it.”
Clark indicated that the source contacted him months after the now-defunct market’s closure, offering to provide tips about law enforcement actions against other online dark markets in exchange for information on the wallet’s whereabouts.
According to Clark, the FBI agent was able to provide advance information about the cases against corrupt DEA agent Carl Mark Force IV and Secret Service agent Shaun Bridges, both of whom were charged for crimes in relation to the Silk Road investigation.
Clark claimed that when he tried to distance himself from the offers, Diamond began threatening his safety, as well as the safety of those connected to the website.
“He would kidnap Ross Ulbricht’s sister, or mother, or ideally both. Get a video capable phone in front of Ross Ulbricht, and he’d give up that fucking pass phrase, and Diamond would have them tortured until he did,” the post reads.
Clark has since told VICE that he has contacted law enforcement agencies in a bid to protect his safety.
The media outlet suggested it is now seeking to verify Clark’s claims.
Bullet casing image via Shutterstock