In the United States, an Odessa citizen was sentenced to seven years for participating in an international cyber fraud and money laundering scheme worth millions of dollars.

A 38-year-old citizen of Ukraine, Oleksandr Musienko from Odessa, was sentenced in the United States to seven years and three months in prison for participating in an international money laundering scheme. This was announced on February 11 by the United States Department of Justice.

Musienko must also pay nearly $ 100,000 in restitution. He pleaded guilty to committing fraud by electronic means. The Ukrainian participated in a money laundering scheme for cybercriminals in Eastern Europe who hacked and stole funds from the bank accounts of American businessmen.

The charges were brought against Musienko in 2016 in the Western District of North Carolina. He was arrested in South Korea in 2018 and extradited to the United States in 2019. In April 2019, the FBI checked Musienko’s laptop and found files containing approximately 120,000 payment card numbers and associated identifying information on others.

According to a plea agreement and other court documents, from 2009 to 2012, Musienko collaborated with hackers in Eastern Europe to recover more than $ 3 million from the victims’ bank accounts and launder the stolen funds abroad.

Musienko’s associates under the scheme hacked and stole victim information in the United States. Musienko himself was involved in the recruitment, supervision and management of a network of “money mules”, people who could accept stolen funds and transfer them abroad. Musienko hired American mules under a pseudonym, posting notices on job sites that he was hiring a financial assistant. They believed they were working for a legitimate business and should help clients transfer funds abroad.