WASHINGTON – Vladislav Anatolievich
Horohorin, aka “BadB” of Moscow, an alleged international credit card
trafficker thought to be one of the most prolific sellers of stolen credit card
data, has been extradited from France to the United States to face criminal
charges filed in the District of Columbia and in the Northern District of
Georgia.
The extradition was announced today by
Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal
Division, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. for the District of Columbia, U.S.
Attorney Sally Quillian Yates of the Northern District of Georgia, U.S. Secret
Service (USSS) Assistant Director for Investigations David J. O’Connor, and
Special Agent in Charge Brian D. Lamkin of the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office.
Horohorin, 27, made his first appearance
before U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle in the District of Columbia
yesterday. He was extradited to the
United States on June 6, 2012, and was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge
Alan Kay in the District of Columbia on June 7, 2012. He was ordered detained pending trial.
“According to the indictment, Mr. Horohorin
was one of the most notorious credit card traffickers in the world, transacting
in stolen credit information across the globe,” said Assistant Attorney General
Breuer. “Due to our strong relationships
with our international law enforcement partners, we secured his extradition to
the United States, where he now faces multiple criminal counts in two separate
indictments. We will continue to do
everything we can to bring cybercriminals to justice, including those who
operate beyond our borders.”
“Our indictment alleges that this young man
used his technological savvy to profit by selling stolen credit card
information over the Internet on a massive scale,” said U.S. Attorney
Machen. “We are pleased that he has been
extradited to the United States to face these criminal charges in a District of
Columbia courtroom. This prosecution
demonstrates that those who try to rip off Americans from behind a computer
screen across an ocean will not escape American justice.”
“The Secret Service is committed to
identifying and apprehending those individuals that continue to attack American
financial institutions and we will continue to work through our international
and domestic law enforcement partners in order to accomplish this,” said USSS
Assistant Director O’Connor.
“International cyber criminals who target
American citizens and businesses often believe they are untouchable because
they are overseas,” said U.S. Attorney Yates.
“But as this case demonstrates, we will work relentlessly with our law
enforcement partners around the world to charge, find and bring those criminals
to justice.”
“Horohorin’s extradition to the United States
demonstrates the FBI’s expertise in conducting long-term investigations into
complex criminal computer intrusions, resulting in bringing the most egregious
cyber criminals to justice, even from foreign shores,” said Special Agent in
Charge Lamkin. “The combined efforts of
law enforcement agencies to include our international partners around the world
will ensure this trend continues.”
Horohorin was indicted by a federal grand jury
in the District of Columbia in November 2009 on charges of access device fraud
and aggravated identity theft. In a
separate investigation, a federal grand jury in the Northern District of
Georgia returned a superseding indictment against Horohorin in August 2010,
charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and access device
fraud. In August 2010, French law
enforcement authorities, working with the U.S. Secret Service, identified
Horohorin in Nice, France, and arrested him as he was attempting to board a
flight to return to Moscow.
According to the indictment filed in the
District of Columbia, Horohorin was the subject of an undercover investigation
by USSS agents. Horohorin, who is a citizen
of Israel, Russia and Ukraine, allegedly used online criminal forums such as
“CarderPlanet” and “carder.su” to sell stolen credit card information, known as
“dumps,” to online purchasers around the world.
According to the indictment, Horohorin, using the online name “BadB,”
advertised the availability of stolen credit card information through these web
forums and directed purchasers to create accounts at “dumps.name,” a
fully-automated dumps vending website operated by Horohorin and hosted outside the
United States. The website was designed
to assist in the exchange of funds for the stolen credit card information. Horohorin allegedly directed buyers to fund
their “dumps.name” account using funds transferred by services including
“Webmoney,” an online currency service hosted in Russia. The purchaser would then access the
“dumps.name” website and select the desired stolen credit card data. Using an online undercover identity, USSS
agents negotiated the sale of numerous stolen credit card dumps.
According to the indictment filed in the
Northern District of Georgia, Horohorin was one of the lead cashers in an
elaborate scheme in which 44 counterfeit payroll debit cards were used to
withdraw more than $9 million from over 2,100 ATMs in at least 280 cities
worldwide in a span of less than 12 hours.
Computer hackers broke into a credit card processor located in the
Atlanta area, stole debit card account numbers, and raised the balances and
withdrawal limits on those accounts while distributing the account numbers and
PIN codes to lead cashers, like Hororhorin, around the world.
Horohorin faces a maximum penalty of 10 years
in prison for each count of access device fraud, 20 years in prison for each
count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud and a statutory
consecutive penalty of two years in prison for the aggravated identity theft
count.
The charges in the indictments are merely
allegations and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The District of Columbia case is being
prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Carol Sipperly, Ethan Arenson and Corbin Weiss of
the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) in the Justice
Department’s Criminal Division. Weiss
also serves as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of
Columbia. The District of Columbia case
is being investigated by USSS. Key
assistance was provided by the French Police Nationale Aux Frontiers and the
Netherlands Police Agency National Crime Squad High Tech Crime Unit. The FBI Atlanta field office provided
information helpful to the investigation.
The Northern District of Georgia case is being
prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nick Oldham and Lawrence R. Sommerfeld
and Trial Attorney Sipperly of CCIPS.
The Atlanta case is being investigated by the FBI. Assistance was provided by numerous law
enforcement partners. U.S. Secret
Service provided information helpful to the investigation.
The Office of International Affairs in the
Justice Department’s Criminal Division provided invaluable assistance.
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