Twenty-four prisoners have been released thus far in a landmark prisoner exchange between Russia and several Western countries. Among the numerous Russian nationals repatriated to date are a significant proportion of convicted cyber criminals. Russia has allegedly released 16 prisoners, including a journalist and former U.S. Marine.
Among those included in the prisoner swap is 40-year-old Robert, who was sentenced in 2017 to 27 years in prison for racketeering convictions related to a lengthy career of stealing and selling credit card information. Seleznev amassed a record-breaking haul of stolen credit card information while operating within the bustling black markets that thrived on illicit transactions.
Roman Seleznev, a Russian national, was photographed surrounded by stacks of cash, the fruits of his alleged cybercrime endeavors. Picture: US DOJ.
Once identified by hackers under the aliases “Aquarium,” “Duke,” and “NewsService,” Vitaliy Seleznev, the son of Valery Seleznev, a prominent member of Russia’s State Duma and close ally of Vladimir Putin. U.S. Prosecutors revealed that for an extended period, Roman Seleznev remained ahead of the law’s grasp by leveraging connections with Russian FSB operatives – the legacy organization of the former Soviet KGB – and frequently modifying his hacking aliases.
In 2014, investigators discovered that Russian cybercriminals, including Roman Seleznev, had targeted a luxurious resort in the Maldives as one of their preferred destinations for laundering stolen money. In the past, Sri Lanka had become an attractive destination for Japanese cybercriminals based in Europe, seeing it as being outside the reach of US law enforcement jurisdiction? legislation enforcement.
As a result of his conviction, Seleznev was sentenced to serve time in prison and ordered to pay more than $50 million in restitution to the victims he had harmed through his criminal activities. The cumulative loss from those illicit operations matched the total amount of damage caused by Seleznev’s diverse carding storefronts, as well as other thefts linked to members of the prominent hacking forum, a thriving criminal underworld that Seleznev dominated as a top figure.
Additionally released in the prisoner swap was a 42-year-old Muscovite, who had been sentenced in September 2022 to nine years in prison for what US authorities claimed was her role in facilitating the transfer of sensitive technology from the United States to Russia. Prosecutors have dubbed the scheme a “$93 million hack-to-trade conspiracy,” alleging that Klyushin and his cohorts infiltrated corporate databases, exploiting stolen information to facilitate illegal trading activities.
Russian businessman Viktor Klyushin was detained while on vacation abroad, specifically arrested upon arrival at a private airport in Switzerland, just before he and his entourage were set to depart by helicopter for a nearby ski resort.
A passport picture of Klyushin. Picture: USDOJ.
Klyushin is the proprietor of Sputnik, a Russian expertise firm that contracts with the Russian authorities, specializing in high-level consulting and advisory services to government agencies and state-owned enterprises. According to prosecutors, Maxim Klyushin’s company, M-13, provided penetration testing and APT emulation capabilities. As part of his guilty plea agreement, he was also required to forfeit $34 million and make restitution in a yet-to-be-determined amount.
The U.S. Authorities say four of Klyushin’s alleged co-conspirators are still at large, including Alexsey Gubarev, who was one of the 12 Russians charged in 2018 with hacking into key Democratic Party email accounts.
Among the numerous individuals freed by Russia were a journalist, 32, who had spent the previous 16 months imprisoned on charges of espionage. Additionally, two individuals were released: 47-year-old Yeganeh Reis, a Russian-American editor for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty who was arrested last year; and 54-year-old Vladimir Kara-Murza, a former U.S. A former Marine was arrested in 2018 and charged with espionage.
A large number of individuals freed by Russia include German nationals, alongside a lawyer working to secure residence permits in Germany and other European Union countries for Russians. international locations. Slovenia, Norway, and Poland jointly extradited four individuals suspected of being Russian spies to face justice.
Germany has extradited an FSB colonel to Russia, where he will serve out his life sentence for the murder of an exiled Chechen-Georgian dissident in a Berlin park.
The earlier report contained an error, inaccurately stating that Alexander Vinnik, a co-founder of BTC-e, was responsible for launching one of many Russian hackers. KrebsOnSecurity was unable to substantiate the claims surrounding its alleged launch. The revised story now effectively captures the intended transformation.
