Two Ukrainians charged for their involvement in a network providing cash-out and money laundering services to cybercriminals have been extradited to the United States.
The individuals, Viktor Vorontsov, 39, and Zlata Hanska Muzhuk, 40, of Ukraine, were arrested in the Czech Republic. They were indicted in February 2020 in the Northern District of Texas.
According to the indictment, the two were part of a cash-out and money laundering network offering services to cybercriminals who accessed bank accounts using stolen credentials, and then transferred funds to drop accounts maintained by the cash-out actors.
Muzhuk and Vorontsov, the indictment reveals, operated a network of drop accounts and money mules that facilitated the fraudulent transfer of money from victims.
The conspiracy existed “for the entirety of 2017,” the indictment reveals. In October and November of that year, roughly $500,000 were transferred as part of the conspiracy.
The Czech National Organized Crime Agency (NCOZ) collaborated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in gathering evidence against Muzhuk and Vorontsov.
A criminal complaint and an arrest warrant were issued in early 2020 in Dallas, and the two were arrested in the Czech Republic, where Muzhuk was visiting Vorontsov at his residence.
Both were detained pending the extradition proceedings and were transferred to FBI custody on March 3, 2021, after their extraditions were granted by the Ministry of Justice of the Czech Republic, in January and February.
They both appeared in court in the Northern District of Texas and entered not-guilty pleas to the charges.
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