Maksim Berezan, an Estonian national, has received a 5-year prison sentence for being involved in over 13 ransomware attacks costing victims over $53 million in losses. Berezan was part of a Russian cybercriminal forum where tools and services were regularly exchanged. He was arrested in Latvia back in 2020 and later extradited to the US where he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit access device fraud. It is believed he targeted at least 7 American businesses.
Police found Berezan had cryptocurrency wallets containing $11 million from ransom payments he had demanded during the attacks along with $200,000 in cash. Living a lavish lifestyle, the criminal had bought luxury cars, sport motorbikes, and jewellery, but he has now been court ordered to repay $36 million in restitution.
The US Secret Service states this is a lesson to ransomware criminals that they are not safe and cannot easily hide from law enforcement and cybercriminal investigators no matter where they are in the world. The US DoJ partnered with the Latvian and Estonian police to help obtain the conviction.
The US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia stated “Ransomware attacks are devastating to people and organizations alike, and we have honed our strategies and techniques to target both the individual actors who perpetrate these attacks and the networks that support them”.
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