Vladimir Drinkman (left) in court / TASS / EPA/JERRY LAMPEN
The first meeting with the participation of Russian citizen Vladimir Drinkman was held in New York today. He is accused of organizing carding activities that led to the largest bank card theft of all time. As a result of the activities of a group of five hackers (four Russians and one citizen of Ukraine), information from about 160 million bank cards was stolen. The damage is estimated at $300 million.
In an American court, Vladimir faces up to 30 years in prison. He was recently extradited to the United States from the Netherlands, where he was arrested back in 2013 at the request of the United States. At that time, extradition was also sought in Russia – Vladimir had a daughter and an ex-wife here. He also asked to be extradited to Russia. However, naturally, in the Netherlands they preferred to transfer him to the American justice authorities. Vladimir pleads not guilty.
Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian Foreign Ministry's Commissioner for Human Rights, Democracy, and the Rule of Law, said: "Washington continues the vicious practice of applying US laws to Russian citizens in violation of international law without providing evidence of charges against them, bypassing the 1999 Russian-American treaty on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters." And this, in turn, according to him, "causes additional serious damage to Russian-American relations that are already going through difficult times."
