[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The Ministry of Justice announced on the 28th that it forcibly extradited a Russian national, Mr. A, to the United States on charges of participating in cybercrime, including developing ransomware to hack online banking information.
Mr. A was indicted in the Northern District Court of Ohio, USA, for using malicious software developed by the multinational cybercrime group TrickBot last August to obtain online banking login information from American companies and individuals, embezzling over $2 million, and laundering the funds.
Accordingly, after receiving an urgent detention request for extradition of Mr. A from the U.S. Department of Justice in May, the Ministry of Justice instructed the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office to secure Mr. A’s custody and seize evidence such as his laptop. Subsequently, after receiving a formal extradition request from the U.S. Department of Justice, the Ministry filed an extradition review request with the Seoul High Court.
After the court’s hearing, on the 2nd of last month, it approved the extradition of Mr. A. Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye also issued the final extradition order for Mr. A on the 23rd of last month. On the 20th, the Ministry of Justice handed over Mr. A’s custody along with seized items such as his smartphone and laptop to the U.S. authorities at Incheon International Airport.
A Ministry of Justice official stated, "This extradition is a representative case of international cooperation against transnational cyber hacking crimes," adding, "The extradition was achieved through close and organic cooperation between the U.S. side and domestic related agencies."
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