"Latvia to extradite computer hacker suspect to US" by Gary Peach | Associated Press, August 07, 2013
RIGA, Latvia — Latvia’s government approved on Tuesday the extradition of a man accused by the United States of helping to create a virus that affected over a million computers worldwide, including many at NASA, and that allowed hackers to steal millions of dollars from victims’ bank accounts.
Related: Sunday Globe Special: Hacking is Good Bu$ine$$
Also see: Ron Paul Candidacy Was CIA-$upported Controlled Opposition
So that's where all the campaign loot came from.
US authorities earlier this year accused Deniss Calovskis, along with suspects from Russia and Romania, of participating in a conspiracy that started in 2005 to create and disseminate the so-called Gozi virus. Once the virus was embedded on victims’ computers it siphoned off passwords and bank account information.
See: The Gozi Strip
Latvian ministers, by a vote of 7 to 5, with one abstaining, approved the extradition of Calovskis.
Martins Panke, spokesman for Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, said the country’s chief prosecutor told ministers before the vote that there was sufficient evidence to link Calovskis to the crimes.
Many Latvians were vehemently opposed to the idea of extraditing Calovskis because he faces 67 years in prison if found guilty by a US court, which they feel is excessive.
The government decision is final, but Calovskis’s lawyer, Saulvedis Varpins, has told Latvian media that he will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights to prevent the extradition.
It was unclear when the extradition could take place, but a Justice Ministry spokeswoman said that it would take at least several days.
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