Montenegro’s Police Directorate announced on October 1 that A. B. (40) , a citizen of Iran and Turkey arrested in Kotor on June 25, has been extradited to the United States, where he faces court proceedings in New York over hacking attacks on universities. For Serbia and the region, the case shows how far American arrest warrants reach: in the past three years alone, working with the FBI, Montenegro has located and arrested seven people wanted by US authorities.
According to the statement, the extradition was carried out by officers of the NCB Interpol Podgorica with the support of the Special Police Unit, on the basis of a final ruling by the Higher Court in Podgorica .
What does the Police Directorate say the charges?
Police say the arrest warrant was issued to secure his presence in criminal proceedings in New York. The statement says that until his arrest A. B. was considered a “high-profile target of searches in the field of cybercrime and organized crime.” The Police Directorate described the charges as follows:
“He is charged with conspiracy to commit computer fraud and computer hacking, as well as identity theft, in that since 2013, as an associate of a legal entity from the territory of Iran, he carried out mass hacking attacks on the infrastructure of the United States of America - on over 150 universities in the US, causing damage estimated at more than 3.4 billion US dollars.”
“He is charged with conspiracy to commit computer fraud and computer hacking, as well as identity theft, in that since 2013, as an associate of a legal entity from the territory of Iran, he carried out mass hacking attacks on the infrastructure of the United States of America - on over 150 universities in the US, causing damage estimated at more than 3.4 billion US dollars.”
The stolen data and access to compromised university accounts, police say, were used for the benefit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and other users in Iran, including universities there. The arrest was carried out by the NCB Interpol Podgorica unit in cooperation with the Kotor Security Department, and police said at the time that a 39-year-old had been arrested. Today’s statement says he is 40.
What does the American indictment say?
Radio Free Europe, citing an expanded US indictment unsealed this year, gives a somewhat different picture from the police statement. The indictment covers 17 people and traces a campaign run since at least 2013 by Iran’s Mabna Institute . The targets were 144 universities in the US, 178 universities in other countries, and at least 42 American and 11 foreign companies, and damage of at least $3.4 billion is attributed to the universities hit by the operation of the entire network. According to the same source, A. B. is not described as an organizer but as a hacker and associate of the Mabna Institute who took part in compiling target lists, reconnoitering networks and writing phishing messages.
In other words, the $3.4 billion figure refers to the damage caused by the whole system the prosecutors describe, and the police statement presents it alongside a suspect described as an associate of a legal entity from Iran.
How did the extradition proceedings unfold?
The US submitted a formal extradition request on August 7. The Higher Court in Podgorica approved an expedited procedure, and Justice Minister Bojan Bozovic confirmed to the daily Vijesti that the US Department of Justice had been notified of the decision:
“The Ministry of Justice has informed the US Department of Justice of this. Further procedures will be carried out in cooperation with the competent police services.”
“The Ministry of Justice has informed the US Department of Justice of this. Further procedures will be carried out in cooperation with the competent police services.”
In its statement, the Police Directorate calls the operation a continuation of cooperation with the FBI:
“The operation to locate and detain this high-profile target continued the excellent cooperation between NCB Interpol Podgorica and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).”
“The operation to locate and detain this high-profile target continued the excellent cooperation between NCB Interpol Podgorica and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).”
According to police, all seven wanted people were located and detained by the so-called FAST team of NCB Interpol Podgorica, “in a very short time and on the basis of precise exchange of intelligence.” The statement does not give the date of the extradition itself.
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