Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/488485
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 1 APRIL 2015 11 Business Today www.creditinfo.com.mt info@creditinfo.com.mt Tel: 2131 2344 Your Local Partner for Credit Risk Management Solutions Supporting you all the way Silk Road agents charged with stealing seized Bitcoin Eurozone defl ation eases as unemployment falls Defl ation in the eurozone eased in March as the unemployment rate dipped slightly in February, fi gures show. The EU's statistics office figures found consumer prices fell by 0.1% in March from a year earlier, as against a 0.3% fall last month. The downward pressure on prices has come from the drop in energy costs, but which now appear to be levelling out. The unemployment rate in the eurozone fell from 11.4% to 11.3% in February. The total decline of 329,000 in the number of eurozone jobless in the three months to February is the largest three-month fall since the three months to April 2007. The numbers suggest businesses are becoming more willing to step up hiring encouraged by very low oil prices, a markedly weaker euro and a major stimulus from the European Central Bank (ECB). In January the ECB announced a quantitative easing programme to purchase more than €1 trillion in assets – pumping money into the banking system to boost the eurozone economy, and stave off deflation. Despite the headline rate rising to -0.1%, core annual inflation – which excludes energy and food prices – continued to fall, dropping to 0.6% from 0.7% in February. Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics, said: "The latest data on eurozone inflation and unemployment do little to diminish the danger of a prolonged period of deflation in the currency union. "The increase was driven entirely by higher food and energy inflation, no doubt partly reflecting the drop in the euro during the month." Anton Borg elected Malta Chamber president Anton Borg has been elected presi- dent of the Malta Chamber of Com- merce, Enterprise and Industry, suc- ceeding David Curmi, who had held the position since 2013. Borg is director of Elepac, Meritlink and Eurosupplies Limited, and is a past president of the Malta Federation of Industry that merged with the Malta Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise in 2009. In his first address, Borg referred to the chamber's economic vision 2014- 2020 that the preceding council had adopted and which has been widely accepted by both political parties and the authorities. "It is now incumbent upon the incoming council to ensure the necessary momentum on the part of the authorities is kept in introducing the Chamber's recommendations that will lead to the enhancement of the national competitiveness needed for the economic vision to materialise," he said. Borg graduated as a member of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants in the UK in 1983 and became a member of the Malta Institute of Accountants in 1985. He sat on the council of the MIA for 14 years, serving as president for two years from 1997. He was elected to the Federation of Industry council in 2009 and served as their president between 2003 and 2005. He also served as deputy president of the Malta Chamber in the outgoing council, representing the Chamber on boards including the Malta Council for Social and Economic Development, Malta Enterprise, Malta Industrial Parks and Malta Business Bureau. Two former US special agents have been charged with stealing large amounts of digital currency while investigating the notorious Silk Road marketplace. The US Department of Justice alleges that Shaun Bridges stole more than $800,000 in Bitcoin. His colleague, Carl Force, has also been charged with money laundering and wire fraud. Best known for selling illegal drugs, Silk Road was closed in 2013 following raids by the FBI and other agencies. The man accused of running the site, Ross Ulbricht, was convicted in February, and prosecutors argued that he had earned about $18 million in Bitcoin from the operation. Force, who worked for the Drug Enforcement Administration, served as an undercover agent during the investigation into the Silk Road. One of his tasks involved communicating with Ulbricht, known online as "Dread Pirate Roberts". The DoJ alleges that "without authority", Force "developed additional online personas and engaged in a broad range of illegal activities calculated to bring him personal financial gain". In doing so, the complaint alleges, Force used fake online personas, and engaged in complex Bitcoin transactions to steal from the government and the targets of the investigation. "In one such transaction, Force allegedly sold information about the government's investigation to the target of the investigation." The 46-year-old is charged with wire fraud, theft of government property, money laundering and conflict of interest. Shaun Bridges, who worked for the US Secret Service, is charged with wire fraud and money laundering. The DoJ alleges that he transferred more than $800,000 in Bitcoin into an account at MtGox, a Japanese digital currency exchange that filed for bankruptcy in February. "He then allegedly wired funds into one of his personal investment accounts in the United States mere days before he sought a $2.1 million seizure warrant for Mt Gox's accounts," the DoJ says. Both men appeared in a San Francisco court on Monday. Anton Borg