Russian Faces Hacking Charges After Israel Ships Him to U.S.

(Bloomberg) -- An accused Russian hacker who has been at the center of a diplomatic feud between Israel and Moscow was extradited to the U.S. to face charges that he ran websites that helped cybercriminals commit credit card fraud.

Alexei Burkov, 29, arrived Monday night in northern Virginia from Israel, where he’d been detained since his arrest in December 2015 at the request of U.S. authorities.

He is accused of operating the Cardplanet website to sell stolen credit and debit card data from 2009 to 2013. He also created an online forum for elite cybercriminals to plan crimes, buy and sell stolen goods and services, and help each other avoid detection. New members needed three criminals to vouch for them and “state the applicant’s reputation for cybercrime and history of committing cybercrime,” according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday.

Burkov’s arrival in the U.S. ends a years-long legal standoff over his fate. Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to swap Burkov for an Israeli woman who had been arrested in Moscow after hashish was discovered in her backpack on a connecting flight. The woman, Naama Issachar, was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in a Russian jail.

Israel appealed to Moscow to release Issachar. Instead of arranging a swap, Israel agreed to the U.S. extradition request for Burkov and Issachar remains in Russian jail.

Putin Hangs Netanyahu Out to Dry Over Hashish Jailing of Israeli

Burkov appeared Tuesday in federal court in Alexandria and was ordered detained until a bail hearing on Friday. He is charged with access device fraud, wire fraud and three conspiracy counts. One charge is conspiracy to commit access device fraud, identity theft, computer intrusion, wire fraud and money laundering. He faces as many as 80 years in prison.

Prosecutors want Burkov, a resident of St. Petersburg and Tyumen, to forfeit $21.4 million in proceeds that they said he made in the fraud. Burkov was indicted in 2015, and prosecutors expanded the case a year later.

Burkov was arrested in December 2015 in Israel at the request of U.S. authorities. His final legal petition to halt the extradition was rejected by the High Court of Justice this week.

The case is U.S. v. Burkov, 15-cr-245, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria).

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.