Estonian cybercriminal gets 5.5 years jail time, to pay $36M in restitution over role in ransomware attacks

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The Latvian government extradited Berezan to the United States in december 2020. Investigators found evidences that he was inviolved in at least 13 ransomware attacks. Seven of those ransomware attacks were against victims in the United States that led to around $11 million in ransom payments deposited his cryptocurrency wallets.

According to the DOJ, in April 2021,  Berezan pleaded guilty to onspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution and conspiracy to commit access device fraud and computer intrusions.

The DOJ has sophisticated methods to combat cybercrimes

In a statement, DOJ Criminal Division Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite Jr. noted, “Many of the world’s ransomware players began as fraudsters engaged in other types of online crimes, and this case demonstrates that their crimes will catch up to them.”

He added that the case against Berezan is a “prime example” of how the DOJ “can leverage its traditional tools– criminal investigations and prosecutions – to combat ransomware.”