Cats lead Feds to KnightMB (worth 371kBTC) in Romney Tax Hack.

[MysteryMiner]

We probably know only partial information. There might be some other stupid mistakes that have led cops to him. Most likely KnightMB is the guy who did this tax return hoax. I feel sorry for him because he made some stupid mistake.

[molecular]

We probably know only partial information. There might be some other stupid mistakes that have led cops to him. Most likely KnightMB is the guy who did this tax return hoax. I feel sorry for him because he made some stupid mistake.

like joe23 ;-)

[MysteryMiner]

We probably know only partial information. There might be some other stupid mistakes that have led cops to him. Most likely KnightMB is the guy who did this tax return hoax. I feel sorry for him because he made some stupid mistake.

like joe23 ;-)

Yes. And the biggest mistake of joe23 was a fast confession But it was by the rules of the game. In real life if ever facing cops or even NSA is never confess of anything. The evidence can be very limited and indirect anyway. "I don't remember" and "I don't understand" is the best answers to give when questioned.

[Fcx35x10]

Yes. And the biggest mistake of joe23 was a fast confession  But it was by the rules of the game. In real life if ever facing cops or even NSA is never confess of anything. The evidence can be very limited and indirect anyway. "I don't remember" and "I don't understand" is the best answers to give when questioned.

welly put. i think we need more info to clarify too

[repentance]

Did Atlas turn this guy in to get the reward?

You don't need to look to Atlas.  The people over on Endless-sphere were extremely pissed off when they discovered he'd acquired the 371,000 BTC and were talking about reporting him to government agencies.  They almost certainly made his former employers aware that they'd been screwed over, too.  It's possible, and perhaps even likely, that people who already had a grudge against KnightMB contacted the SS to suggest him as a likely suspect when news of the Romney tax return thing broke.  

It is possible that someone from this message-board reported him.  Not everyone thought that the way he acquired his 371,000 BTC was "clever".

[molecular]

We probably know only partial information. There might be some other stupid mistakes that have led cops to him. Most likely KnightMB is the guy who did this tax return hoax. I feel sorry for him because he made some stupid mistake.

like joe23 ;-)

Yes. And the biggest mistake of joe23 was a fast confession But it was by the rules of the game. In real life if ever facing cops or even NSA is never confess of anything. The evidence can be very limited and indirect anyway. "I don't remember" and "I don't understand" is the best answers to give when questioned.

Oh yeah, I thought about considering being caught that way as "not by the rules" and just ignoring it... would've loved so much to continue and learn more. But can you imagine the discussion that would've happened when I would've had my identity revealed later on? That would've damaged my reputation badly ;>. I'm not Matthew, hehe. (although 14 BTC is not 90,000 BTC either)

In case of real trouble playing dumb is a good suggestion. Reputation with the cops doesn't matter, confessions you accidentally give them do.

[molecular]

Did Atlas turn this guy in to get the reward?

You don't need to look to Atlas.  The people over on Endless-sphere were extremely pissed off when they discovered he'd acquired the 371,000 BTC and were talking about reporting him to government agencies.  They almost certainly made his former employers aware that they'd been screwed over, too.  It's possible, and perhaps even likely, that people who already had a grudge against KnightMB contacted the SS to suggest him as a likely suspect when news of the Romney tax return thing broke.  

It is possible that someone from this message-board reported him.  Not everyone thought that the way he acquired his 371,000 BTC was "clever".

The question is not: did they report him. The question is: did someone "acquire" that usb stick and lay him that egg.

Someone reporting him as a suspect based on what? Noone had this suspicion. He admits he once owned that particular usb stick!

[repentance]

Someone reporting him as a suspect based on what? Noone had this suspicion. He admits he once owned that particular usb stick!

People on the Endless-sphere forum did think that it might be KnightMB because he's located in Franklin and had previously acquired BTC under dubious circumstances.  They posted that in one of their locked forums on 6 September and the raid happened on 14 September. I have no doubt whatsoever that the SS chased down any and all tip-offs they received even if they seemed tenuous at first glance.

This guy had a way of pissing people off.  It's possible that he pissed off someone who just happened to be in possession of a USB drive he'd discarded and they just waited for an opportunity to use it to set him up, but it seems more likely that when this story broke people he'd pissed off previously decided to contact investigators and say "you might want to take a look at this guy, he had 371,000 BTC and now he says he's broke".  Making such a tip-off didn't require people to actually believe that he'd sent the ransom demands - it only required a desire to make his life difficult (which is what the Endless-sphere posters were hoping to do when they talked about reporting him to the IRS).

If a flash drive of mine turned up somewhere, my first thought wouldn't be that someone had gone through my garbage to get it.  It would be either that I'd left it somewhere by accident or that I'd loaded stuff onto it for someone and given it to them.  In order for someone to set KnightMB up with that flashdrive, they had to know of his association with Bitcoins.

[molecular]

Someone reporting him as a suspect based on what? Noone had this suspicion. He admits he once owned that particular usb stick!

People on the Endless-sphere forum did think that it might be KnightMB because he's located in Franklin and had previously acquired BTC under dubious circumstances.  They posted that in one of their locked forums on 6 September and the raid happened on 14 September. I have no doubt whatsoever that the SS chased down any and all tip-offs they received even if they seemed tenuous at first glance.

This guy had a way of pissing people off.  It's possible that he pissed off someone who just happened to be in possession of a USB drive he'd discarded and they just waited for an opportunity to use it to set him up, but it seems more likely that when this story broke people he'd pissed off previously decided to contact investigators and say "you might want to take a look at this guy, he had 371,000 BTC and now he says he's broke".  Making such a tip-off didn't require people to actually believe that he'd sent the ransom demands - it only required a desire to make his life difficult (which is what the Endless-sphere posters were hoping to do when they talked about reporting him to the IRS).

If a flash drive of mine turned up somewhere, my first thought wouldn't be that someone had gone through my garbage to get it.  It would be either that I'd left it somewhere by accident or that I'd loaded stuff onto it for someone and given it to them.  In order for someone to set KnightMB up with that flashdrive, they had to know of his association with Bitcoins.

I don't get it. I was of the impression we were talking about the USB stick that was sent to PWC. If the pissed off people had come into posession of knightmbs stick, they would've still had to put the tax returns on it and send it to PWC and setup the whole extortion, effectively comitting the crime. It sounds like you don't believe that but rather that the people decided to set him up "when the [extortion] story" broke.

[MysteryMiner]

Oh yeah, I thought about considering being caught that way as "not by the rules" and just ignoring it... would've loved so much to continue and learn more. But can you imagine the discussion that would've happened when I would've had my identity revealed later on? That would've damaged my reputation badly ;>. I'm not Matthew, hehe. (although 14 BTC is not 90,000 BTC either)

His winnings was well earned. Hi did what the cops will also do. You learned something from this contest as well as everyone else.

In case of real trouble playing dumb is a good suggestion. Reputation with the cops doesn't matter, confessions you accidentally give them do.

If You talk too much with cops, you will also have enough time to talk with other inmates!

It's possible, and perhaps even likely, that people who already had a grudge against KnightMB contacted the SS to suggest him as a likely suspect when news of the Romney tax return thing broke.

I wonder did Shutzstaffel suspected me too of this Romney Tax fraud? I can tell that there is something more that led to KnightMB than undeleted picture of cats we just don't know.

[niko]

From the surprisingly entertaining USA Today article:

The agents also were clumsy in their removal of his equipment, Brown said.

"They left me with the impression of a bunch of apes with screwdrivers punching away at stuff."

[Phinnaeus Gage]

From the surprisingly entertaining USA Today article:

The agents also were clumsy in their removal of his equipment, Brown said.

"They left me with the impression of a bunch of apes with screwdrivers punching away at stuff."

Not every ape makes the cut to protect a monkey in the White House.

Perhaps a timeline of events is in order. The flash drive was claimed to have the tax files stolen on August 25. On September 5 is when it hit Venurebeat. If this is true, then the flash drive would have to been obtained prior to then.

Now, you want to see/read something really weird. There's a cat in Turkey now referred to as Obama Cat because supposedly Obama petted said cat while visiting the country. To even the untrained eye, one could see the resemblance to the Franklin Feline.



Trivia: What is currently the official breed of cat in D.C.?

[repentance]

I don't get it. I was of the impression we were talking about the USB stick that was sent to PWC. If the pissed off people had come into posession of knightmbs stick, they would've still had to put the tax returns on it and send it to PWC and setup the whole extortion, effectively comitting the crime. It sounds like you don't believe that but rather that the people decided to set him up "when the [extortion] story" broke.

I'm definitely having trouble believing that someone obtained his USB stick and decided to set him up, much less that they went out of their way to obtain one of his USB sticks with the specific intention of setting him up.

I have no trouble whatsoever, though, in believing that when news stories about the extortion attempt broke and people who had an already existing grudge against KnightMB read of the Franklin and BTC connection they decided to connect the authorities and say "look into this guy" - not necessarily because they believed he had anything to do with it, but because they knew that a Secret Service investigation into an extortion attempt against a presidential candidate would make his life difficult.  That the USB drive actually did turn out to have belonged to KnightMB wasn't something anyone needed to have known or even suspected if the intention was purely to fuck up his shit. 

Maybe there was something else entirely that directed the suspicion of the SS towards KnightMB - I just wouldn't be surprised if they got tip-offs naming his as a possible suspect given that he'd screwed people over in the past and the recent past at that.  If you want to fuck up someone's shit out of spite, report them to a government agency for something you know will be investigated.  Whether or not they've actually done it doesn't matter if the investigation itself would make their life difficult.

[molecular]

I don't get it. I was of the impression we were talking about the USB stick that was sent to PWC. If the pissed off people had come into posession of knightmbs stick, they would've still had to put the tax returns on it and send it to PWC and setup the whole extortion, effectively comitting the crime. It sounds like you don't believe that but rather that the people decided to set him up "when the [extortion] story" broke.

I'm definitely having trouble believing that someone obtained his USB stick and decided to set him up, much less that they went out of their way to obtain one of his USB sticks with the specific intention of setting him up.

I have no trouble whatsoever, though, in believing that when news stories about the extortion attempt broke and people who had an already existing grudge against KnightMB read of the Franklin and BTC connection they decided to connect the authorities and say "look into this guy" - not necessarily because they believed he had anything to do with it, but because they knew that a Secret Service investigation into an extortion attempt against a presidential candidate would make his life difficult.  That the USB drive actually did turn out to have belonged to KnightMB wasn't something anyone needed to have known or even suspected if the intention was purely to fuck up his shit. 

Maybe there was something else entirely that directed the suspicion of the SS towards KnightMB - I just wouldn't be surprised if they got tip-offs naming his as a possible suspect given that he'd screwed people over in the past and the recent past at that.  If you want to fuck up someone's shit out of spite, report them to a government agency for something you know will be investigated.  Whether or not they've actually done it doesn't matter if the investigation itself would make their life difficult.

ok, that story can make sense. However it would make knightmb having owned the stick before a pure coincidence. It would be more satisfying if there was a connection.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

ok, that story can make sense. However it would make knightmb having owned the stick before a pure coincidence. It would be more satisfying if there was a connection.

Coincidences/facts:

• Stick was mine four years ago, but probably was obtained by a rogue garbage picker. I've seen American Pickers, and Mike Wolf lives just down the road a piece in Lieper's Fork, and I've help set up websites that have antiques for sale.
• I was a Bitcoiner, but not anymore. I'm into Timekoin for years now.
• Timekoin is superior to Bitcoin.
• Is a staunch Obama supporter.
• Can be seen dissing Romney on many a channels.
• Has dissed formal employees who've gone on record to repute his claims.
• Wife runs a daycare center out of their home, yet claim there's no income, hence needing donations.
• Publishes info about the Romney hack on the TimeKoin forum.

[hashman]

Hey blockchain sleuths:

What are the wallets that contained this sum?  Any recent action?

Any action from the romney extortion wallets?

Thanks

[repentance]

ok, that story can make sense. However it would make knightmb having owned the stick before a pure coincidence. It would be more satisfying if there was a connection.

I'm not saying that him owning the USB stick is a coincidence - obviously it isn't if he's the one who sent the extortion demands.  What I'm saying is that it's not unusual to receive tip-offs which are based on little more than "sounds like something person X might do" or for people to make reports to government agencies out of pure spite.  Many such tips will go absolutely nowhere, but sometimes they lead to actual evidence that the person being reported was involved in the crime even if the person making the report didn't really believe they were responsible but just wanted to cause them grief. 

Maybe someone thought this is exactly the kind of thing KnightMB would do because of his prior sketchy behaviour or maybe they just saw an opportunity to make his life difficult.  Maybe the SS received no tip-offs regarding KnightMB at all and it was something else entirely which made them look in his direction.

If he's eventually charged, there's a good chance that we'll find out more background information about what led to him being investigated.

[MysteryMiner]

I would love to see one more time TrueCrypt full disc encryption stopping investigation. Did he use FDE or he was one of the " I have nothing to hide " people?

[Phinnaeus Gage]

From the Secret Services perspective, MB posting about the Romney stuff on his Timekoin site, coupled with being a Bitcoiner, was probably more than enough for them to look at this guy. Add his support for Obama, and his postings against Romney, not to mention his pics of his cats on Facebook, and even the dumbest SS agent can put together probable cause and have a judge sign off on the warrant.

And, he's now involved in not one, but two alternative currencies.

I'll give the dude the benefit of the doubt, but his track record was more than enough for him to be looked at.

~Bruno K~

[benjamindees]

Obviously those of you engaging in endless speculation as to what could prompt the SS to investigate him missed this article:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2012/11/12/romney-tax-returns-hacker/1699075/

In 2009 the same agency came to his house looking for evidence tying him to the alleged theft of thousands of Social Security numbers held by an insurance company. He was never charged, and Brown said he met with federal agents four times to answer questions; he even agreed to a polygraph, he said.