Daniel Abayev, Taxi Dispatch System Hacking, New York 2023
Two Queens Men Sentenced for Hacking JFK Airport's Taxi Dispatch System
Queens, New York - Daniel Abayev, 47, and Peter Leyman, 49, both of Queens, New York, were sentenced to prison for their roles in a scheme to hack the electronic taxi dispatch system at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).
On October 4 and October 30, 2023, Leyman and Abayev each pled guilty to one count of conspiring to commit computer intrusion. The men were sentenced to four years and two years in prison, respectively, by U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty.
According to the charging documents, Abayev and Leyman, along with Russian nationals Aleksandr Derebenets and Kirill Shipulin, engaged in a scheme to hack the Dispatch System at JFK between September 2019 and September 2021. The men used various methods, including bribing someone to insert a flash drive containing malware into computers connected to the Dispatch System, obtaining unauthorized access via a Wi-Fi connection, and stealing computer tablets connected to the Dispatch System.
The hack allowed drivers of certain taxis to skip the line, causing as many as 1,000 fraudulent trips per day. Abayev and Leyman charged taxi drivers $10 each time they were advanced to the front of the line, with part of the profits going to Shipulin and Derebenets.
Abayev, the leader of the scheme, recruited the other participants and enabled large numbers of taxi drivers to skip the line. The scheme resulted in significant financial losses for the taxi industry.
Abayev and Leyman were also ordered to pay $161,858.26 in forfeiture and $3,456,169.50 in restitution. Derebenets and Shipulin remain at large.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office, with assistance from the Port Authority Office of the Inspector General and Homeland Security Investigations.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Cybercrime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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