One of the biggest cyber criminals in the world sits in a jail in France, waiting on the United States to prosecute him and, subsequently, extradite him to the United States. Vladislav Khorokhorin has been in jail since 2010 for his alleged role in a credit card theft gang known as “CarderPlanet.” The United States Department of Justice claims that his is “BadB”, the leader of the gang.
Arkady Bukh, of international criminal law firm, Bukh Law Firm, PLLC, asserts that his client is not “BadB.” “He is not the leader of any gang. He knows people in the gang, but Vladislav is not ‘BadB.'” Vladislav has claimed that he was a Tesla dealer in Moscow, but the company says that they have never had a dealership in Russia and do not know Vladislav. He made his money somehow, however.
CarderPlanet is one of the most technological efficient financial crime organizations in the world even with the arrest of the alleged “BadB.” It is said to be linked to nearly every financial computer intrusion in the world. U.S. Secret Service Assistant Director for Investigations, Michael Merritt, says, “This arrest is an illustration of the success that comes from international law enforcement and private sector partnerships and confirms the Secret Service commitment to transversing the globe in pursuit of online criminals.”
One of the reasons why Khorokhorin was arrested is due to the fact that he bragged online that he was one of the biggest sellers of “dumps”, which is the personal data and credit card data that is stored on the magnetic stripe on the back of your bankcard. Undercover agents were sent in to negotiate several purchases of data from him and the French authorities cooperated with the Secret Service to arrest him. The government claims that he has been selling these “dumps” for over eight years.
Bukh said that on May 3, 2012, it looked like Vladislav was going to get out of prison, due to a technicality, but it was not to be. The Supreme Court took the case and on May 10, 2012, Vladislav was notified that they were reviewing the evidence against him. Whether he is “BadB” or not, he is going to have to live in prison for a while longer.
The 27-year old faces a maximum of ten years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for the access device fraud charge. The aggravated identity theft charge carries a two-year prison sentence and a fine of up to $250,000. Only time will tell.
