Russian protection racket raided by Hi-Tech Crime Unit

Posted on 21 Jul 2004 at 15:14

Three Russian men have been detained in connection with extortion and money-laundering offences that threatened online bookmakers in the UK with denial of service attacks unless they paid an annual fee.

The men, aged 21, 23 and 24, were nabbed in a series of raids across St Petersburg and in the Saratov and Stavropol areas of southwest Russia in a joint operation between the UK's National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU), and specialist divisions of Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs.

One has been arrested, while two are being questioned. A spokesperson for the NHTCU said further arrests are possible. The NHTCU is not looking to extradite the men and the suspects will be dealt with under Russian law for the time being.

Detective Chief Superintendent Len Hynds, Head of the NHTCU, said: 'The success of this operation is built on the foundation of international partnerships between law enforcement and business. The more we work together in the fight against organised crime, the safer the UK will be for business.

'Thanks to the response of all the parties involved, we have helped to dismantle a determined group of organised criminals. The clear message we are sending is that if you attack firms based in the UK, we will find you and stop you.'

The spokesperson said that all the UK high street bookies, such as William Hill and Ladbrokes had been targeted by the gang, but that they were almost certainly active in other countries as well.

The gang would typically demand sums of $30,000 to $40,000 on an annual basis for the promise that they would not be subject to denial of service attack which could knock out vital servers during high levels of online betting in the run up to key sporting events.

We were told that a company called Cambit, which although Australian was based in the UK, had tipped off UK authorities last October and initiated the investigation.

At least one company paid the protection money which gave the NHTCU a paper trail as well as a technology trail to audit and follow up.

This led to 10 arrests in Riga, Latvia, last November. It was information discovered at this point that led the authorities on to make these most recent raids.

The investigation was also aided by law and government agencies in Australia, Canada, Estonia and the USA.

Author: Matt Whipp