Crime & Public Safety
Crime & Public Safety

Gwinnett man pleads guilty to conspiracy in computer hacking scheme

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, District of New Jersey (center), speaks during a news conference on Aug. 11, 2015. An international group of hackers and stock traders made $30 million by breaking into the computers of newswire services that put out corporate news releases and trading on the information before it was made public, federal prosecutors said. (Credit: Seth Wenig / Associated Press)

Credit: Seth Wenig

Credit: Seth Wenig

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, District of New Jersey (center), speaks during a news conference on Aug. 11, 2015. An international group of hackers and stock traders made $30 million by breaking into the computers of newswire services that put out corporate news releases and trading on the information before it was made public, federal prosecutors said. (Credit: Seth Wenig / Associated Press)
By Becca J G Godwin
Aug 2, 2016

A Gwinnett County man who was part of an international group of hackers and schemers pleaded guilty Tuesday in New York to a conspiracy charge that could land him in prison for up to 20 years.

Leonid Momotok, 47, of Suwanee, entered the plea in Brooklyn federal court, admitting he played a role in what government officials described as the largest known computer hacking scheme and securities fraud case.

In addition to Momotok, three metro Atlantans and others were charged in the scheme, which generated $30 million in illegal profits. The Atlantans are Arkadiy Dubovoy, 51, Igor Dubovoy, 28, and Alexander Garkusha, 47, all of Alpharetta.

The group stole secrets by hacking into three business newswires to snatch information from unpublished news releases, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. More than 150,000 news releases were stolen.

Momotok, who was charged in 2015, has yet to be sentenced.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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Becca J G Godwin
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