Cdn charged in Yahoo hack maintains innocence

A lawyer for a Canadian man of Kazakh origins arrested as one of four suspects in a massive hack of Yahoo emails said Thursday that the charges against his client may be “politically motivated by the U.S.”

Jag Virk suggested that his client, 22-year-old Karim Baratov, is being used as a scapegoat by American authorities.

“I believe (U.S. President) Donald Trump is using this to make it appear as if he is going after Russian hackers,” he said. “These allegations are from three years ago.”

Baratov maintains his innocence and has no prior criminal record, his lawyer said, adding that people should wait for all facts to emerge in the case.

Toronto police said Baratov was arrested Tuesday in the Ontario community of Ancaster at the request of American authorities.

The U.S. Department of Justice said a grand jury in California has indicted Baratov and three others, two of them allegedly officers of the Russian Federal Security Service, for computer hacking, economic espionage and other criminal offences.

U.S. officials said Baratov also went by the names Kay, Karim Taloverov and Karim Akehmet Tokbergenov.

He was arrested under the extradition act, and appeared in court in Hamilton on Wednesday morning, court staff said. His case was put over until Friday afternoon.