CREDIT CARD TRAFFICKER RECEIVES 88 MONTH PRISON SENTENCE

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Friday, April 5, 2013

International Credit Card Trafficker Sentenced to 88 Months in Prison
Vladislav Anatolievich Horohorin, aka "BadB," was sentenced today to serve 88 months in prison for trafficking in millions of stolen credit and debit cards and for his role in the theft of more than $9 million dollars from an Atlanta-based credit card processor.

The sentence was announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ronald C. Machen Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Sally Quillian Yates, U.S. Secret Service Assistant Director for Investigations David J. O’Connor and Special Agent in Charge Mark F. Giuliano of the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office.

Horohorin, 30, a citizen of Russia, Israel and Ukraine, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle in the District of Columbia. In addition to his prison term, Horohorin was ordered to pay $125,739 in restitution and sentenced to two years of supervised release.

Horohorin was indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia in November 2009 on charges of access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. In a separate investigation, a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Georgia returned a superseding indictment against Horohorin in August 2010, charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and access device fraud. In August 2010, French law enforcement authorities, working with the U.S. Secret Service, identified Horohorin in Nice, France, and arrested him as he was attempting to board a flight to return to Moscow. Horohorin was extradited to the United States on June 6, 2012. After Horohorin’s arrival in the United States, the two cases pending against him were consolidated in Washington, D.C.

On Oct. 25, 2012, Horohorin pleaded guilty to two counts of access device fraud as well as conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

According to Horohorin’s plea agreement, he used online criminal forums to sell stolen credit and debit card information, known as "dumps," to online purchasers around the world. Horohorin, using the online name "BadB," advertised the availability of stolen credit and debit card information through these online forums and directed purchasers to create accounts at "dumps.name," a fully-automated dumps vending website operated by Horohorin and hosted outside the United States. At the time of his arrest, Horohorin possessed more than 2.5 million stolen credit and debit card numbers.

Horohorin admitted that he was one of the lead cashers in an elaborate scheme in which counterfeit payroll debit cards were used to withdraw more than $9 million from ATMs around the world. Hackers broke into the computers of a credit card processor located in the Atlanta area, stole debit card account numbers and raised the balances and withdrawal limits on those accounts while distributing the account numbers and PIN codes to cashers, like Horohorin. Horohorin, and those he recruited, used one of the stolen account numbers to withdraw more than $125,000 from ATMs in and around Moscow.

The District of Columbia case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Ethan Arenson, Carol Sipperly and Corbin Weiss of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS). Weiss also serves as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. The District of Columbia case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service. Key assistance was provided by the French Police Nationale Aux Frontiers and the Netherlands Police Agency National Crime Squad High Tech Crime Unit. The FBI Atlanta field office provided information helpful to the investigation.

The Northern District of Georgia case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nick Oldham and Lawrence R. Sommerfeld of the Northern District of Georgia, and Trial Attorney Sipperly of CCIPS. The Atlanta case was investigated by the FBI. Assistance was provided by numerous law enforcement partners. The U.S. Secret Service provided information helpful to the investigation.