Russian basketball player Daniil Kasatkin was arrested in France on a hacking charge at the request of the United States.
U.S. authorities believe Kasatkin negotiated payoffs for a ransomware ring that hacked around 900 companies and two federal government entities in the U.S., demanding money to end their attacks, according to a report from AFP. Kasatkin, who was arrested on June 21, denies the allegations.
His lawyer, Frédéric Bélot, told POLITICO that Kasatkin is a “collateral victim of that crime” because he bought a second-hand computer with malware.
“He’s not a computer guy,” Bélot said. “He didn’t notice any strange behavior on the computer because he doesn’t know how computers work.”
A French court denied Kasatkin bail on Wednesday, and he remains in jail awaiting formal extradition notification from U.S. authorities, according to Bélot.
Kasatkin had traveled to France to visit Paris with his fiancée and was detained shortly after arriving at the airport.
He played collegiate basketball briefly at Penn State, then four seasons for the Moscow-based MBA-MAI team. Bélot said Kasatkin’s physical condition has deteriorated in jail, which he argued is harming his athletic career.
Joshua Berlinger contributed to this report.
The post France detains Russian basketball player at US request on hacking charge appeared first on Politico.
