Update: Another Alpharetta man has owned up to his role in an international hacking scheme involving securities fraud.
On Wednesday, 28-year-old Igor Dubovoy pleaded guilty, the Justice Department says. In the scheme, overseas hackers were paid for access to corporate press releases on earnings announcements before they were made public. Conspirators used information in the releases to buy and sell stocks. Companies targeted included Home Depot, Panera Bread Co., Hewlett-Packard, and Caterpillar, according to the feds.
Dubovoy told the court the Ukraine-based hackers were paid 50 percent of any profits made in the stock market from the scheme.
Several others still face charges, including another Alpharetta man, Arkadiy Dubovoy. Late last year, a third Alpharetta man copped a plea in the case. Here's details on that from an earlier post:
How much can company press releases be worth? How about $100 million. In the first criminal case of its kind, an Alpharetta real estate developer has pleaded guilty in a insider trading scheme involving hacked corporate press releases.
Credit: Lois Norder
Credit: Lois Norder
Alexander Garkusha and dozens of others used advance word they got from 150,000 hacked press releases to buy and sell stocks, federal authorities say. By trading on the insider information, defendants made over $100 million. Garkusha's share: about $125,000 over three months.
According to news reports, he was the first of the accused to admit guilt, pleading to a wire fraud charge. Garkusha, who was an executive with APD Developers, is now cooperating with authorities in the ongoing probe.
Among others accused in the scheme are three other metro Atlanta residents: Arkadiy Dubovoy, Igor Dubovoy and Leonid Momotok.
The computer hackers themselves were based in the Ukraine. In addition to the criminal case, the Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a civil complaint accusing a large group of defendants of fraud. Defendants named in the complaint include APD Developers and other corporations connected to Arkadiy Dubovoy.
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