Consulate general in NYC monitoring situation of 6 Russians charged with cybercrime
MOSCOW. Nov 28 (Interfax) - The Russian consulate general in New York is aware that the United States has charged six Russian citizens with cybercrime in absentia.
"According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the federal court in Brooklyn charged six Russian citizens, who had been detained in Malaysia, Bulgaria, and Estonia, with a series of cybercrimes in absentia on November 27. They are awaiting extradition to the United States," the consulate wrote on Twitter.
"The consulate general is monitoring the situation," it said.
The attorney's office of the New York Eastern District said earlier that six citizens of Russia and two of Kazakhstan had been indicted with cybercrime in absentia.
They were charged with e-commercials fraud. The attorney's office estimated the damages at tens of millions of dollars. In addition, the suspects were accused of "breaking into computer systems, stealing personal data, and laundering money," the consulate said.
The attorney's office identified the suspects as Alexander Zhukov, Boris Timokhin, Mikhail Andreyev, Denis Avdeyev, Dmitry Novikov, and Alexander Isayev of Russia, and Sergei Ovsyannikov and Yevgeny Timchenko of Kazakhstan.
Ovsyannikov was arrested in Malaysia in October, Zhukov in Bulgaria in early November, and Timchenko in Estonia. Their extradition to the United States is pending. The other defendants have yet to be taken into custody.