Enlarge / Screenshot of the website of the Ministry of Justice shows four photos of the same alleged criminal.
Federal prosecutors have sued the kingpin of Evil Corp, the name used by a cybercrime gang that used the infamous Dridex malware to clear more than $ 70 million of bank accounts in the US, UK, and other countries.
Maksim V. Yakubets, a 32-year-old Russian citizen who used the “Aqua” handle, led one of the world’s most advanced transnational cyber crime syndicates, prosecutors said Thursday. The alleged deployment of the Dridex by the crime group was one of the most widespread malware campaigns ever. The British National Crime Agency said the syndicate was named Evil Corp.
Dridex is configured to target customers from nearly 300 different organizations in more than 40 countries by automating the theft of online bank details and other confidential information from infected computers. Over time, the makers of Dridex have updated the malware to install ransomware. Previously known as Bugat and Cridex, Dridex used zeroday exploits and malicious attachments in emails to infect targets. The malware is designed to bypass antivirus and other security defenses.
Yakubets and another alleged Dridex operator, 38-year-old Igor Turashev, also from Russia, would have used the recorded bank details to order electronic money transfers from compromised accounts. Prosecutors said that the men led the stolen money to the accounts of money mules who would transfer the money to other accounts or convert it into cash and smuggle it abroad. Yubets was the leader of the crime group, prosecutors said. Turashev is said to have performed many functions, including system management, management of an internal control panel and monitoring of a botnet that managed infected computers.
Confiscated images and videos released by British authorities show alleged members of Evil Corp big. A photo shows Yakubets and his bride celebrating their wedding in 2017 with a lush chandelier above them. Other images and videos show off expensive sports cars.
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A photo of the wedding of Yakubets in Moscow.
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A Lamborghini from Maksim Yakubets parked outside Chianti Café.
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Evil Corp member Andrey Plotnitskiy with cash.
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A Lamborghini Huracan and an Audi R8 used by members of Evil Corp outside the Moscow State University.
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Nissan GTR used by Evil Corp member Dmitriy Smirnov with a Philipp Plein wrap.
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An Audi R8 from an Evil Corp member. It is parked outside the Chianti Café, a location used by the group.
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Evil Corp member cars: Lamborghini Huracan from Maksim Yakubets.
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Evil Corp group member Andrey Plotnitskiy faces a Porsche.
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An Evil Corp member who points the finger at the police.
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Evil Corp member Dmitriy Smirnov standing on his Nissan GTR and a Chevrolet Camaro.
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Another member of Evil Corp.
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Evil Corp group members (from left to right) Kirill Slovoddkoy, Dmitry Smirnov and Denis Gusev on vacation in Dubai in 2013.
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Yakubets is also accused of providing “direct assistance” to the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, the successor to the KGB better known as the FSB.
“In addition to his leading role within Evil Corp, Yakubets has also provided direct assistance to the Russian government,” officials from the US Treasury Department said. “From 2017, Yakubets worked for the Russian FSB, one of Russia’s leading intelligence organizations that was previously sanctioned under E.O. 13694, as amended, on December 28, 2016.”
