December 23, 2015
A Ukrainian national made his initial appearance today in federal court in Charlotte, North Carolina, after being extradited from Poland to face charges relating to a $10 million international money laundering operation, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose of the Western District of North Carolina and Special Agent in Charge John A. Strong of the FBI’s Charlotte Division.
Viktor Chostak, 34, of Ukraine, along with three other individuals, are charged in a 25-count indictment with conspiracy to commit money laundering, eleven counts of money laundering, conspiracy to commit computer fraud, conspiracy to transport stolen property, conspiracy to commit access device fraud, four counts of transporting stolen property and six counts of aggravated identity theft. According to a redacted version of the indictment unsealed today, beginning in September 2007, Chostak and three other conspirators were members of an international money laundering organization. The organization created and operated a sophisticated online infrastructure that allowed hackers to obtain and conceal stolen money, primarily from U.S. companies’ bank accounts, and transfer it to countries outside the United States.