14 DAY TRIAL // Two Russians, father and son, have been extradited from Switzerland to the US after they were caught running a fraudulent operation which helped them illegally earn a few hundred thousand dollars.
According to the FBI, 54-year-old Vladimir Zdorovenin and his son Kirill Zdorovenin now face charges of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, computer fraud, aggravated identity theft and securities fraud.
Between 2004 and 2005 the two managed to defraud US citizens using fake websites, stolen credit card data and bank accounts from Russia and Latvia.
“Mr. Zdorovenin’s egregious behavior illustrated the true colors of the cyber underground, as he and his son allegedly defrauded consumers of hundreds of thousands of dollars using methods that included compromised credit cards, all fronted through fictitious companies they had created,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Janice K. Fedarcyk.
Fedarcyk reveals that this was more than the classic credit card information theft scheme. The crooks installed pieces of malware to access the victims’ brokerage accounts, trading their securities and manipulating stock prices.
With the apprehension of the two, the FBI wants to show cybercriminals who think they can hide behind a Russian IP that they’re not out of the reach of the US authorities.
The US Department of Justice’s Criminal Division and the Office of International Affairs assisted the FBI with the extradition procedures and now Zdorovenin faces a maximum sentence of 142 years in prison if he is to be found guilty of the charges he faces.
“Cyber crime is a pandemic that makes geography meaningless. From far away, with the click of a mouse, the cyber criminal can victimize millions of people in the U.S.
“As alleged, Vladimir Zdorovenin and his son did exactly that; they engaged in serial cyber crimes in Russia that targeted Americans and wrought havoc with their personal and financial information, using it to make phony purchases and to manipulate stock prices,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said.