SEATTLE, Jan 28, 2023 (AFP): Frenchman Sebastien Raoult pleaded not guilty to cybercrimes Friday (Jan 27) in Seattle federal court, two days after he was extradited from Morocco.
Federal Judge Michelle Peterson told the 21-year-old Raoult that he was charged with nine counts, including conspiracy, computer intrusion, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Raoult listened through an interpreter.
After Raoult's plea of not guilty, the judge ordered him to be detained as a flight risk until a hearing April 3.
Moroccan authorities arrested Raoult at Rabat airport May 31 at the request of the US Department of Justice. Along with Raoult, two other French nationals were also arrested, Gabriel Bildstein, 23, and Abdel-Hakim El-Ahmadi, 22.
According to Raoult's indictment, he and the other two men are alleged to have formed a hacking team, dubbed "ShinyHunters," to steal confidential data from 60 companies to sell on the dark web where criminals routinely operate.
Some of the companies are located in the Seattle area.
According to experts, beginning in 2020, the hackers stole customer data from the Indonesian e-commerce site Tokopedia, the US clothing brand Bonobos, the US telecom AT&T and many other companies, putting the personal data for sale on the dark web.
The criminal charges carry a possible jail term of up to 27 years in prison. - AFP
