Four REvil Hackers Freed After Time Served in Russian Custody

A Russian court has sentenced cybercriminals tied to the REvil ransomware gang to time already served, which means they have been released.

Four Russian nationals linked to the notorious REvil ransomware group were convicted by the Dzerzhinsky District Court in Saint Petersburg on June 23 and sentenced to five years in prison. However, the court immediately released them due to the three years they already served in pre-trial detention.

Hackers walk free but not entirely unpunished

The convicted criminals, Andrei Bessonov, Mikhail Golovachuk, Roman Muromsky, and Dmitry Korotayev, had been held in a Russian detention center since early 2022, following pressure from US authorities to arrest them.

According to the court ruling, the group was found guilty of illegal transfer of payment means by an organized group and creation and use of malicious software. Their crimes included a secondary carding scheme that mainly targeted US citizens by using stolen payment card information.

 "The victims of their activities were foreign nationals (primarily U.S. citizens) whose bank card data was used for personal gain. The group operated from its creation by Puzyrevsky no later than October 2015 until January 2022 in various cities where its accomplices resided," said the prosecutor, according to a TASS report.

 In addition to prison time, the court ordered asset seizures. Bessonov forfeited two 2020 BMW vehicles, 51.8 million rubles ($650,000), and $497,000 in US currency. Korotayev lost a 2019 Mercedes-Benz C 200.

This case marks the second wave of REvil convictions. In October last year, a separate court in Saint Petersburg sentenced four others — Daniil Puzyrevsky, Ruslan Khansvyarov, Alexei Malozemov, and Artem Zayets — to prison terms ranging from 4.5 to 6 years. Unlike the latest group, they denied guilt and are currently serving time.