Russian charged in Pittsburgh with laundering money for international cybercriminals

A Russian national described by the FBI as a "significant cybercriminal" has been charged in Pittsburgh with laundering money for other cybercriminals, joining five Latvians indicted here in January on similar charges.

An FBI complaint was unsealed Monday against Maksim Boiko, 29, known as "gangass" in the cyberworld, after agents arrested him at a Miami condo on Saturday.

Mr. Boiko had entered the U.S. in January with his wife at Miami carrying $20,000 in cash, the FBI said.

He told customs agents that the money was from investments in Bitcoin and rental properties in Russia. But the FBI said that Mr. Boiko, whose Instagram account showed him flashing bundles of cash, is really a money launderer for other cyber criminals who provides access to bank accounts for receiving stolen money from victims and for converting the money into crypocurrency.

Agents said Mr. Boiko conspired with members of an international organized crime group called QQAAZZ that provides money-laundering services around the globe.

The network has been under investigation by the Pittsburgh FBI, and in January a grand jury in Pittsburgh handed up an indictment against five Latvians on conspiracy charges related to the scheme.

Prosecutors said the Latvians opened accounts at banks around the world to receive money for a fee from cybercriminals, who stole it from victims’ accounts, including those held at PNC Bank in Pittsburgh and First National Bank in Pittsburgh.

The FBI said cyberthieves with access to a victim's bank account would typically contact QQAAZZ, which had about a dozen members operating in Georgia, Bulgaria, Latvia and other countries, to locate a recipient bank account to which they could wire stolen money.

The QQAAZZ conspirators secured bank accounts in the names of shell companies in exchange for about half of the stolen money.

Mr. Boiko was directly involved with the QQAAZZ conspirators from his base in St. Petersburg, Russia, and had a close personal relationship with one of the QQAAZZ leaders, according to the FBI.

He was set for an initial appearance hearing Monday by video before a federal magistrate judge in Miami and will eventually be transferred to Pittsburgh.