A Russian man accused of operating a network of infected computers used by cyber criminals has been extradited to the United States from Spain and will make an initial court appearance on Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice said.


U.S. prosecutors said Peter Levashov, 37, ran the Kelihos botnet, a network of more than 100,000 infected devices used by cyber criminals to distribute viruses, ransomware, phishing emails and other spam attacks.


Levashov denies the charges in an eight-count indictment handed down by a federal grand jury in Connecticut in April.


Levashov, who fought the extradition, told Spain’s High Court in September that he had worked for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party for the last 10 years, Russia’s RIA news agency reported.


He told the court that investigators in the United States would torture him for information about his political work if he was sent there to face the charges, RIA said.


Levashov was charged by U.S. prosecutors with causing intentional damage to a protected computer and wire fraud, which carry a potential prison sentence of up to 52 years if he is convicted at trial.


He was arrested while on holiday in Barcelona last April and in October, Spain’s High Court granted a U.S. request to extradite him. Levashov was scheduled to appear in court in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the Justice Department said.

Suspected of hacking Russians were extradited to the US



WASHINGTON, Feb 3 - RIA Novosti, Alexei Bogdanovsky. The Russian citizen Petr Levashov, who is accused of hacking, is extradited from Spain to the United States and will be brought to justice in the near future, according to a statement by the US Department of Justice.

"It is planned that Levashov will appear before Judge Holi Fitzsimmons in Bridgeport, Conn., At about 6 pm (2 nights in Moscow time)," the report said.

Levashov charges in Connecticut on eight counts in connection with the creation of the botnet network Kelihos. Levashov is also accused in the federal court of Alaska on two counts: fraud on the Internet and illegal interception of electronic messages. Earlier, the US Justice Department reported that many years ago, against Levashov, cases were opened in Michigan and in the US capital, Washington, DC.

The prosecution believes that Levashov, using a network of infected computers, received information about users 'logins and passwords, sent spam, installed extortion programs and other viruses on users' computers. According to the prosecution, Levashov made significant money on this.

Levashov was arrested in April 2017 in Spain on request from the United States. In the same month, the US Justice Department reported on the successful termination of the Kelihos network.

"We assume that Levashov controlled and managed the Kelihos network, which was used to spread hundreds of millions of fraudulent electronic messages, intercept passwords to online accounts and financial accounts of thousands of Americans, and to distribute extortion programs for our (American) editors. networks, "he said. Assistant Attorney General John Cronan.

Spain on Friday gave the American side of Levashov, suspected of committing cybercrimes. Levashov was detained by the Spanish police in April in Barcelona, ​​where he rested with his family, at the request of the United States, where he was suspected of hacking. On October 3, 2017, the National Court of Spain agreed to extradite Levashov to the United States. This decision was appealed by lawyers, but the court confirmed the previous decision.



The Russian Embassy commented on Spain's decision to extradite Levashov


MOSCOW, Feb. 2 (RIA Novosti). Madrid's decision to extradite the US citizen Peter Levashov is disappointing, Russia's request has priority, the Russian Embassy in Spain reported.

Spain on Friday gave the American side of Levashov, suspected of committing cybercrimes. Levashov was detained by the Spanish police in April in Barcelona, ​​where he rested with his family, at the request of the United States, where he was suspected of hacking. On October 3, the National Court of Spain agreed to extradite Levashov to the United States, where, as the resolution says, "he is accused of a number of crimes - computer fraud, damage, identity theft." This decision was appealed by lawyers, but the court confirmed the previous decision.

"We regret to note that on February 2, the Spanish side handed over to the USPeter Levashov, the fact of issuing the Russian was confirmed by his lawyer.This decision of the Spanish authorities is disappointing: in fact, according to generally accepted legal norms, the Russian request has priority, since Peter Levashov is a citizen of the Russian Federation," - the report said.

The American side believes that Levashov created a computer network such as the Kelihos botnet through which he "controlled hundreds of thousands of computers", spreading viruses, extorting, sending phishing emails and making other spam attacks.