Swiss officials apprehended Klyushin earlier this year. According to U.S. Attorney Nathaniel Mendell, Klyushin and his four co-defendants “hacked U.S networks, stole inside information and cheated honest investors out of millions of dollars.” The accused placed trades for themselves as well for clients in exchange for a cut of their profits. Furthermore, Mendell added that one of the co-defendants, Ivan Ermakov, was previously charged with hacking the 2016 U.S. Presidential Elections. According to court documents, Ernmakov worked at Klyushin’s cybersecurity company, M13. Ermakov also faced charges in the United States in October 2018 for his role in a separate hacking operation.
Klyushin and Others Accused of Hacking U.S. Securities Filing Agencies
Vladislav Klyushin owns M13, a company that provides cybersecurity and media monitoring services. The company also offers penetration testing and defensive hacking services. M13’s website states that several arms of the Russian government have used its IT solutions. According to the indictment, these include:
The Administration of the President of the Russian Federation the Russian Federation Government Russian federal ministries and departments several regional state executive bodies commercial companies and public organizations
Klyushin and his co-defendants are accused of hacking into two U.S.-based filing agents between January 2018 and September 2020. These agents are vendors that publicly traded corporates use to make their filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission. This information is not available to the public. Klyushin and his co-defendants allegedly used this information to make trades, eventually making “tens of millions of dollars.” “If anyone is looking for good news this week, you can find some in this case,” Mendell said.
Russia Asked Switzerland not to turn over Klyushin to the United States
According to reports, Klyushin traveled to Switzerland for a family Skiing vacation in March. Swiss authorities arrested him on behalf of the FBI after he landed in the country. Russian state media said the Russian government urged the Swiss to refrain from handing over Klyushin to the United States. As mentioned earlier, one of the accused, Ivan Ermakov, previously faced charges for his role in hacking Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party to interfere with the 2016 elections. Ermakov, and the other three accused persons remain at large. They include M-13 director Nikolai Rumiantcev, and two businessmen named Mikhail Irzak and Igor Sladkov.
