Spanish court agrees to extradite Russian hacking suspect to US

MADRID: Spain’s High Court said it had agreed to a US request to extradite a Russian man accused of controlling one of the world’s top generators of spam and online extortion.

Peter Levashov from Saint Petersburg, a 37-year-old who goes by a string of names, was arrested at Barcelona airport on April 7 by Spanish authorities acting on a US warrant.

US prosecutors accuse the purported hacker of controlling the Kelihos network of tens of thousands of infected computers, stealing personal data and renting the network out to others to send spam emails by the millions and extort ransoms.

His defence team had argued that the US extradition demand was ‘politically motivated’.

Levashov, a computer specialist, had served in the Russian army and worked for President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party, according to his lawyers.

In the course of his work he had access to confidential documents which he fears authorities in the US may demand he turn over to them if he is extradited there, the lawyers had argued.

But the High Court said in its ruling that “none of the allegations relating to the political motivation” for the extradition request “has been accepted”.

Levachov has three days to appeal the court’s decision.

A US federal grand jury in April slapped Levachov with an eight-count indictment.

The charges include fraud, identity theft and conspiracy.

Levashov could allegedly order remotely the delivery of fraudulent spam and malicious computer viruses on behalf of whoever would pay him to do so. — AFP