Sentencing of hacker in $55M scam is a rare win for feds

A prolific Russian-speaking hacker behind cyberattacks that netted an estimated $55 million is facing sentencing by a U.S. judge on a conviction considered an unusual win for law enforcement officials who have identified, but failed to arrest, hundreds of others like him.

Ercan Findikoglu, a Turkish national who also speaks English, pleaded guilty last year conspiracy charges that could land him in prison for up to 14 years. He was due in Brooklyn federal court for sentencing on Friday.

Before his capture by the U.S. Secret Service, Findikoglu had gone to great lengths to obscure his cyber fingerprints and stay out of the reach of American law, according to court papers. He advised one co-conspirator at one point to not “go to usa. U will get arrested,” the papers said.

It wasn’t until Findikoglu made an ill-advised trip to Germany in December 2013 that he was arrested at the request of U.S. authorities. After losing a court challenge, he was eventually extradited. Foreign hackers “know their safe havens and some are more challenging to get to,” said Robert Sica, who retired last year as the special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s New York field office. “Inevitably they make a mistake.” In court papers, a lawyer for Findikoglu describes his 34-year-old client as an intelligent, self-educated man who as a youngster found refuge from an abusive father and sickly mother in cyber cafes, honed his skills for the Turkish military and then used his computer savvy for illicit personal gain.

“Mr. Findikoglu’s offence conduct is completely intertwined with his computer skills: he is a hacker,” wrote lawyer Christopher Madiou, noting his Russian wife, Alena Kovalenko, and their 5-year-old son have twice been denied visas by U.S. immigration officials.