PITTSBURGH - A resident of Varna, Bulgaria, was sentenced on
December 16, 2019, in federal court in Pittsburgh to a period of time served
after having served more than 39 months in prison following his conviction on
charges of criminal conspiracy, computer fraud, and bank fraud for his role as
a member of the GozNym malware cybercrime network, United States Attorney Scott
W. Brady announced today.
United States District Judge Nora Barry Fischer imposed the
sentence on Krasimir Nikolov, 47, of Bulgaria. Nikolov will be transferred into
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and removed from the United
States to Bulgaria.
At the request of the United States, Nikolov was arrested in
September 2016 by Bulgarian authorities and extradited to Pittsburgh in
December 2016 to face prosecution in the Western District of Pennsylvania.
According to information presented to the court, Nikolov’s primary role in the
conspiracy was that of a "casher" or "account takeover
specialist." In that capacity, Nikolov used victims’ stolen online banking
credentials captured by GozNym malware to access victims’ online bank accounts
and attempt to steal victims’ money through electronic transfers into bank
accounts controlled by fellow conspirators.
Nikolov conspired with fellow GozNym members charged in a
related Indictment announced in May 2019 in The Hague, Netherlands by U.S.
Attorney Brady and international partners from Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova,
Bulgaria, Germany, Europol, and Eurojust. The Indictment, returned by a federal
grand jury in Pittsburgh, charged 10 additional members of the GozNym criminal
network with conspiracy to commit computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire
fraud and bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
According to that Indictment, Alexander Konovolov, aka
"NoNe," aka "none_1," of Tbilisi, Georgia, was the primary
organizer and leader of the GozNym network who controlled more than 41,000
victim computers infected with GozNym malware. Konovolov assembled the team of
elite cybercriminals charged in the Indictment, in part by recruiting them
through underground online criminal forums. Marat Kazandjian, aka
"phant0m," of Kazakhstan and Tbilisi, Georgia, was Konovolov’s
primary assistant and technical administrator. Konovolov and Kazandjian were
arrested and prosecuted in Georgia for their respective roles in the GozNym
criminal network
In a related announcement today, the Office of the
Prosecutor General of Georgia and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia
announced the convictions and imposition of sentences against Konovolov and
Kazandjian following a lengthy trial held in Tbilisi, Georgia. In an
unprecedented level of cooperation, the Georgian trial included witness
testimony from an FBI agent and a computer scientist from the FBI’s Pittsburgh
Field Office, as well as evidence obtained by the
FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office through their parallel
investigation. The Georgian prosecution was based on violations of Georgian
criminal laws perpetrated by Konovolov and Kazandjian against GozNym victims in
the United States, including victims in the Western District of Pennsylvania.
"In announcing the prosecution of the GozNym
international cybercrime syndicate with our law enforcement partners at Europol
in May, I stated that borderless cybercrime necessitates a borderless
response," said U. S. Attorney Brady. "This new paradigm involves
unprecedented levels of cooperation with willing and trusted law enforcement
partners around the world who share our goals of searching, arresting and prosecuting
cyber criminals no matter where they might be. I want to congratulate and
personally thank the Office of the Prosecutor General of Georgia and the
Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia for their dedication and hard work in
securing these important convictions, and for their willingness to seek justice
on behalf of GozNym victims in the United States and around the world."
"The FBI will not allow cyber criminals from any
country to operate with impunity," said FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge
Robert Jones. "For years, these cyber criminals believed they could steal
millions from innocent victims. Through international cooperation with multiple
agencies, we were able to target, takedown and bring to justice members of this
criminal enterprise. We will continue to relentlessly pursue these cyber
criminals who think they can conduct illicit activity from behind the perceived
anonymity of a computer."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles A. Eberle prosecuted this
case on behalf of the U.S. government.
In addition to extending his gratitude and appreciation to
the Office of the Prosecutor General of Georgia and the Ministry of Internal
Affairs of Georgia for their investigation and successful prosecution of
Konovolov and Kazandjian, United States Attorney Brady commended the FBI for
the investigation leading to the successful prosecutions of Nikolov, Konovolov
and Kazandjian.
The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs
provided significant assistance with the extradition of Nikolov from Bulgaria
as well as with the bi-lateral sharing of evidence with Georgia. Bulgaria’s
General Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime assisted in the arrest of
Nikolov.
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