US Federal Prosecutor William Frentzen to speak at the Blockchain & Bitcoin Africa Conference 2016
William Frentzen, Federal Prosecutor with the US Attorney’s Office, will be lending his considerable weight to the next Blockchain & Bitcoin Africa Conference to be held on 3-4 March 2016 in Johannesburg.
Frentzen was an integral part of the prosecution team that put former Secret Service agent Shaun Bridges safely behind bars. Bridges was found guilty of money laundering and obstruction of justice. He stole thousands of bitcoins while investigating illegal drug and other contraband activity on the infamous Silk Road website. He then moved the stolen bitcoins into an account at an online digital currency exchange based in Japan. Later he liquidated the bitcoins into US$820 000 and had the funds transferred to personal investment accounts in the US.
Frentzen was also one of the prosecutors against Carl Force, a former DEA agent who stole and extorted bitcoin while acting in an undercover capacity in the Silk Road investigation. Force also admitted to entering a US$240 000 contract with 20th Century Fox Film Studios for a film about the Silk Road’s investigation, without DEA approval.
Silk Road operator Ross Ulbricht, aka ‘Dread Pirate Roberts’, made headlines in 2013 with his arrest by the FBI and later with his sentencing of life in prison for operating and being the ‘mastermind’ behind the Silk Road website.
International subject experts will delve into compliance, regulation and legal issues surrounding digital currencies such as bitcoin and blockchain technology. Delegates will get the opportunity to tap into the knowledge of William Frentzen and other experts on the panel; including Kathy Nicolaou from the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), Tracy Hockly, a senior associate at Dommisse Attorneys Inc., Elizabeth Rossiello, the CEO of BitPesa, and Jonathan Levin, co-founder of Chainalysis — a leading provider of AML solutions to bitcoin companies, banks and government agencies.