Ukrainian Hacker Sentenced for Credit Card Trafficking

Virginia Man Convicted in Massive Credit Card Heist

A Ukrainian national was sentenced to six years in prison for trafficking stolen financial information obtained through computer hacking, according to court documents.

Ruslan Yeliseyev, 42, of Odessa, Ukraine, made his living selling stolen financial information on underground Russian-speaking criminal websites, officials said. The information that Yeliseyev sold had been stolen from hacked computers and included over 62,000 credit card numbers as well as usernames and passwords to victims’ online banking accounts.

Yeliseyev was arrested while vacationing in Israel in 2016 and subsequently extradited to the United States. His arrest marked a significant blow to the global cybercrime community, law enforcement officials said.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kellen S. Dwyer and Trial Attorney Andrew Pak of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS).

The sentencing was announced by G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and Brian J. Ebert, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s Washington Field Office.

Senior U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton handed down the sentence, which was welcomed by law enforcement officials who have been working to combat cybercrime in the region.

The case is a reminder that cybercrime has no borders and that law enforcement agencies around the world must work together to bring perpetrators to justice.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court.