Ukrainian Egor Shevelev convicted as main actor in $5 million credit card fraud

2013/8/9 10:47:55

Manhattan District Attorney: “Evidence submitted at trial – including testimony from 50 witnesses – proved that Shevelev sold more than 75,000 of the 95,000 total credit card account numbers, which were used to commit more than $4 million of the total $5 million-plus in fraud.”

 

 


NEW YORK, Aug 9, 2013 (UBO) - Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., yesterday announced the results of the eight-year-long investigation and prosecution of a cybercrime ring that extended from Ukraine to Brooklyn, whose members were convicted of trafficking more than 95,000 stolen credit card numbers, resulting in more than $5 million in credit card fraud. Eleven members of the cybercrime ring and one corporate defendant pleaded guilty to charges including Money Laundering, Grand Larceny, Criminal Possession of Stolen Property, Scheme to Defraud, and Conspiracy for their role in the global trafficking ring.

 

On June 13, 2013, following a ten-week trial in New York State Supreme Court, a jury found three defendants, Egor Shevelev, a/k/a “Eskalibur” a/k/a "Esk,” 27 and two others guilty of all counts of the indictment against them, including Grand Larceny, Criminal Possession of Stolen Property, Scheme to Defraud, and Conspiracy. On July 23, 2013, Shevelev was sentenced to 13 1/3-to-40 years in New York state prison.

 

“The number of cyber fraud cases has skyrocketed in recent years, creating a whole new class of victims and resulting in millions of dollars of fraud, at levels law enforcement has never seen before,” said District Attorney Vance. “More than 95,000 credit card holders had their personal information stolen by this cybercrime ring, which crisscrossed the globe from Russia to the Czech Republic to California to Brooklyn. It was a highly profitable scheme that netted the principals millions of dollars. I am pleased that these defendants have been sentenced to prison sentences appropriate to the scope and breadth of their misconduct. It is my hope that this case will serve as a deterrent to any would-be cybercriminals operating overseas, and anyone who mistakenly believes that he or she is beyond the reach of state prosecutors.”

 

As proven at trial, Shevelev was one of the premier vendors of stolen credit card data in the world. Operating out of his apartment in Kyiv, Ukraine, Shevelev used multiple Internet forums devoted to cybercrime to advertise that he had “millions” of stolen credit card account numbers for sale. Evidence submitted at trial – including testimony from 50 witnesses – proved that Shevelev sold more than 75,000 of the 95,000 total credit card account numbers, which were used to commit more than $4 million of the total $5 million-plus in fraud. Shevelev was paid millions for these stolen account numbers, mostly in the form of digital currencies Egold and Webmoney.  He laundered more than $600,000 of his Egold criminal profits through co-defendant Vadim Vassilenko and Western Express, Inc. The United States does not have an extradition treaty with Ukraine, but, in May 2008, Shevelev was apprehended in Rhodes, Greece, where he had been vacationing. He was ultimately extradited to New York County to face charges.

 

The District Attorney’s office said that in total Shevelev was convicted on 60 counts of criminal activity.

 

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Text and photo courtesy of Manhattan District Attorney’s office, New York City

 

To view original DA’s office announcement, link below:

http://manhattanda.org/press-release/ ... ificant-state-prison-time

 

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