Men accused of Bloomberg extortion lose court bid to avoid extradition

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/079/economy/Men_accused_of_Bloomberg_extor:.shtml

[To the best of my knowledge, I am not related to Igor Yarimaka's
barrister. :)  - WK]


By Jane Wardell, Associated Press, 3/20/2002 14:28

LONDON (AP) Two men from Kazakstan, accused of trying to extort
$200,000 from Bloomberg L.P. after breaking into the company's
computer system, lost a court bid Wednesday to avoid extradition to
the United States to face trial.

Oleg Zezev, 27, and Igor Yarimaka, 37 who have been held in a London
prison since their arrest in August 2000 had challenged a May 2001
court ruling that opened the way for their extradition, arguing the
U.S. government had not provided enough evidence on the case.

But Lord Woolf, the lord chief justice, ruled Thursday that the judge
in the earlier court hearing was ''perfectly entitled'' to come to the
conclusion he did, and refused both men permission to seek a judicial
review of the decision.

The pair must now await the final decision of Home Secretary David
Blunkett on whether they will be extradited. Woolf is the top judge
for England and Wales.

Zezev, employed as a technical expert by a company contracted by
Bloomberg, and his attorney Yarimaka were arrested after Michael
Bloomberg, former chief executive officer of the financial information
company, tipped off police about a meeting at London's Hilton Hotel
with the two men.

Bloomberg, who has since become mayor of New York, had received an
e-mail from a man named ''Alex'' demanding the money in return for
information on security breaches.

''Alex'' alleged to be Zezev told Bloomberg he had accessed his e-mail
account and credit card details and had personal information on the
company's head of security. ''Alex'' threatened to e-mail Bloomberg
customers, highlighting the breach of security, and said he had the
ability to send e-mails purporting to be from senior directors of the
firm.

Both men were charged with four counts of blackmail and two counts of
computer hacking after the FBI and London's Metropolitan Police
electronically monitored the meeting at the Hilton.

Barristers for the two said Wednesday that Judge Wicks had ''erred in
law'' at a hearing in Bow Street Magistrates Court in May 2001 when he
opened the way for extradition.

Helen Malcolm, representing Zezev, said the hacking charges were wrong
as her client had never intended to alter data on Bloomberg's computer
in New York.

Julian Knowles, for Yarimaka, said his client knew nothing of the
alleged blackmail and there was nothing to link him to the e-mails
sent by ''Alex.''

Lord Woolf disagreed, saying that by being able to send fake e-mails,
''Alex'' could alter Bloomberg's New York computer and affect the
reliability of data or information entered into it.

Lord Woolf added that while he felt sympathy toward Yarimaka's
position, there was enough evidence for a ''reasonable jury'' to
conclude that he may have been involved in the blackmail plot from the
start, and must therefore face trial.

The charges of extortion and unauthorized computer intrusion in a
criminal complaint carry potential penalties of more than 20 years in
prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines in the United
States.



-
ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org

To unsubscribe email majordomo () attrition org with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY
of the mail.