The U.S. requested the U.K. government to extradite the defendant to face the criminal charges against him. Coelho remains in custody pending the resolution of his extradition proceedings.
Coelho and his co-conspirators allegedly built and administered RaidForums’ software and computer infrastructure. They allegedly created and enforced rules for its users and managed a section of the platform dedicated to promoting the buying and selling of illegal products and services such as hacked databases.
Additionally, the defendant alleged personally sold stolen data on the platform. He directly allowed illegal transactions by operating a fee-based “Official Middleman” service on the website.
The criminal charges against Coelho include conspiracy, access device fraud, and aggravated identify theft in connection with his role as the chief administrator of RaidForums.
FBI Washington Field OfficeAssistant Director in Charge Steven D’Antuono said, “The seizure of the RaidForums website – which facilitated the sale of stolen data from millions of people throughout the world – and the charges against the marketplace’s administrator are a testament to the strength of the FBI’s international partnerships.”
