WASHINGTON, January 18 (Itar-Tass) – Russian citizen Vladimir Zdorovenin, who is accused of cybercrime in the U.S. and whom the Swiss authorities have extradited to this country, told Tuesday hearings at the Federal Court of the South District of New York he does not recognize any guilt on his part.
Vladimir Zdorovenin, a native of Moscow, was detained in Zurich May 27, 2011, and the Swiss authorities extradited him to the U.S. Monday, January 17. His son Kirill, who is also accused of committing the same cybercrimes, remains at large, the Manhattan Attorney and the FBI said in a joint statement.
The charges against the Zdorovenins include “conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, computer fraud, aggravated identity theft, and securities fraud”.
The indictment unsealed Monday says that “at various times between 2004 and 2005, Vladimir Zdorovenin and his son Kirill Zdorovenin, allegedly engaged in a series of crimes in Russia that victimized citizens of the United States through the use of stolen credit card information, multiple phony websites, and bank accounts in Russia and Latvia.”
Specifically, the Indictment alleges that “the Zdorovenins stole victims’ personal identification information, including credit card numbers, through the use of computer programs that were surreptitiously installed on victims’ computers and that recorded the information as it was entered.”
The statement says the Zdorovenins used the Internet to unlawfully access the financial services accounts of victims located in the United States and then transferred or attempted to transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars from those accounts to bank accounts under the Zdorovenins’ control.
Finally, the Indictment charges that after taking over victims’ online brokerage accounts, the Zdorovenins bought and sold thousands of shares of certain companies’ stock in an effort to manipulate the prices of those stocks.
If found guilty by the court, Vladimir Zdorovenin may face a combined jail term of 142 years.