Czech ID Theft Suspects Extradited to US

On the heels of charges filed in relation to the nation’s largest data theft to date, and a guilty plea in connection with the massive TJX hack comes news of extraditions tied to a sweeping credit fraud and identity theft indictment filed in Manhattan back in November 2007.

Viatcheslav Vasilyev, 33, and Vladimir Kramarenko, 31, have been extradited from Prague to New York City to face charges related to global trafficking in stolen credit card account numbers, cyber-crime and identity theft, Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced Aug. 31. The defendants were among 17 individuals charged in a 173-count indictment filed in November 2007. Only recently have their names been unsealed.

Three other co-defendants – Egor Shevelev, Dzimitry Burak and Oleg Kovelin – have also now been named in connection with the indictment. Shevelev is awaiting extradition from Greece. Burak and Kovelin remain at large. All of the defendants face up to 25 years on enterprise corruption charges and all face various lesser charges as well, Morgenthau stated.


The five defendants are alleged participants in a multinational, Internet-based crime enterprise known as the “Western Express Cybercrime Group.” The indictment charges that from 2001 to 2007 the group was responsible for over $4 million worth of credit card fraud, and trafficked in more than 95,000 stolen credit card numbers. The gang’s name is drawn from an affiliation with Western Express International, a New York corporation also named in the 2007 indictment, according to SCMagazineUS.com.

“The amazing thing is these guys in Eastern Europe can take advantage of people here in New York,” Morgenthau said, in a news conference, according to The New York Times.

Vasilyev and Kramerenko allegedly collaborated on a scheme to recruit people to advertise items on eBay. When someone paid to purchase an item, they would pocket the payment (giving a cut to the recruit), and steal the credit card number to purchase the item from a retail store to send to the buyer, the Times reported.

Lawyer Frederica L. Miller said Vasilyev planned to plead not guilty. “He had absolutely no intent to commit fraud, steal property, and he had no need to launder any money,” she said in the Times.

James Roth, who represents Kramarenko, said he believed the enterprise corruption charge would not hold up. “We’re going to vigorously contest the charges,” he is quoted by the Times.

A sixth defendant remained unidentified and at large. Five individuals already arrested under the indictment have so far pleaded guilty, prosecutors said.


Massive Online Identity Theft Ring Indicted in Manhattan