![]() ![]() The market Ulbricht built was based on an expectation of anonymity: Silk Road servers operated within an anonymous Tor network. He could serve 30 years or more behind bars. Ross Ulbricht was convicted in a Manhattan federal court last week for his role operating the Silk Road online marketplace. justice system, where considering the money involved, I would be in fear for my life," Variety Jones wrote in an email, supposedly dated May 2015 and included in his forum post on Sunday.Pro tip for any would-be online drug kingpins: Don’t post vacation pictures on Facebook. "Under the circumstances, I'm very concerned about falling into the clutches of Diamond, or subjecting myself to custody of the U.S. Variety Jones claims he contacted Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Serrin Turner, who prosecuted Ross Ulbricht, to warn him of the actions of Diamond. Although the ID is active, whoever is behind it did not immediately respond to messages. Variety Jones provided a TorChat ID for Diamond in his forum post. 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," according to Variety Jones. "If I ever fucked up and fell into the hands of the Feds, he had the reach and knew the people, and most importantly had the funds, to have me killed," Variety Jones wrote.Īfter this, Diamond supposedly made an extraordinary claim: "He would kidnap Ross Ulbrichts sister, or mother, or ideally both. That's when Diamond (allegedly) started making threats. Thomas Clark, told Diamond he wanted nothing to do with breaking into the Bitcoin wallet. Motherboard named Variety Jones as Roger or Thomas Clark, a Canadian man in his fifties, and tracked him down to the Thai island of Koh Chang.Īccording to his blog post, Variety Jones, a.k.a. He also says that Diamond warned of an Interpol Red Notice against him, and that immigration police were hunting him in Thailand, where he has been living.Įarlier this month, Motherboard published an extensive investigation into the identity of Variety Jones, based on the previous work of independent researcher "La Moustache." Variety Jones made financial and security decisions around the Silk Road, and was referred to by Ross Ulbricht as a "mentor." "He wants me to move to Singapore, where he can set up a safe house and know that I'm clear of the clutches of the DOJ," Variety Jones claims. This wallet was protected by a password, and Diamond believed that Variety Jones, with his previous work on the Silk Road, could access, or help access, the funds in this wallet, and asked for his help. "Considering the money involved, I would be in fear for my life."ĭiamond also claimed to be in possession of a Bitcoin wallet containing over 300,000 BTC, or $70 million at today's exchange rates, that previously belonged to Ross Ulbricht, the convicted creator of the Silk Road. Diamond informed Variety Jones about the imminent closure of the Evolution marketplace in mid-March, allegedly because of an extortion campaign Diamond carried out against them. This and other inside information convinced Variety Jones that Diamond was in fact an FBI agent.ĭiamond also claimed to be doing a robust business in reaping bitcoins by trading in information and blackmailing dark web marketplace owners. He claimed to have provided such information to Atlantis, a dark web drug site that would eventually shut down in 2013, according to Variety Jones.ĭiamond made good on his promise of information, Variety Jones said, by tipping him ahead of time about the investigations into Carl Mark Force IV and Shaun Bridges, two law enforcement officials who stole funds from the Silk Road. ![]() The anonymous source, who later called himself "Diamond," claimed to be an FBI agent and said he could provide tips about investigations into dark web marketplaces. Variety Jones claims that an anonymous source contacted him months after the Silk Road was shut down offering inside information. "The story of a bent Federale who has leaked me secret grand jury information in an effort to keep me *out* of the hands of his colleagues." "The story of a rogue, highly placed member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who has been making better than an average of a $1,000,000 a month, committing felonies with wild abandon, just because he can." ![]()
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