Ukrainian hacker has been extradited to U.S. Government
Date: March 27, 2004Source: Computer Crime Research Center
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A Ukrainian man wanted in the United States for alleged multimillion dollar computer crimes was moved to a detention center Thursday ahead of his extradition to California to face court proceedings, an official said.
Maksym Kovalchuk of Ternopil, Ukraine, smiled at journalists as he was taken in a caged truck from Bangkok Remand Prison to the Special Branch Police Bureau near Thailand's international airport.
He was charged in 2000 in San Jose, Calif., with trafficking counterfeit goods, copyright infringement, money laundering and possession of unauthorized credit card information.
Kovalchuk was arrested May 20, 2003, in the Thai capital Bangkok. He was 25 at the time.
A U.S. Embassy official, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said the formalities of handing over Kovalchuk to U.S. authorities would be completed Thursday. He would not say if Kovalchuk would leave Thursday night or Friday.
Maxim Kovalchuk accused of such "grave" computer financial crime was born in Ternopol, Ukraine. Maxim Kovalchuk graduated form physical and mathematical high school ¹1 as honors student; then in 1998 he graduated from The Institute of Economy and Management at the Ternopol Academy of National Economy as A-student.
Kovalchuk made no resistance to arresting. The piracy copies of computer programs of "Microsoft", "Autodesk", "Adobe", and «Macromedia" have been found at him. There were proprietary label and inscriptions on some fakes. According to Thai police, approximate cost of withdrawn piracy production makes $3 million.
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