Russian hacking suspect wanted by the FBI arrested on Thai resort island

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BANGKOK (AP) — Police have arrested a suspected Russian hacker on the Thai resort island of Phuket who was wanted by the FBI on allegations he was behind cyberattacks on U.S. and European government agencies, officials said.

The 35-year-old, who entered Thailand on Oct. 30 at Phuket Airport, was taken into custody earlier this month at his hotel and is now being held pending possible extradition, Thai police said.

The suspect's name was not released but Russian state-run news agency Russia Today identified him as Denis Obrezko, a native of Stavropol. It reported that his relatives confirmed the Nov. 6 arrest and were planning to fight his extradition to the United States.

In an e-mail Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice refused to comment on the possible extradition or give other details. The U.S. State Department and American officials in Thailand also refused to comment.

The Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian embassy in Thailand also did not respond to requests for comment, but Russia's consul general in Phuket, Yegor Ivanov, told Russian state news agency Tass that the consulate had “received notification of the arrest of a Russian citizen on charges of committing an information technology crime.”

“He was arrested on November 6 and transferred to Bangkok that same day,” Ivanov said, without providing further details.

Ilya Ilyin, head of the consular section of the Russian embassy in Thailand, told Tass on Monday that Russian diplomats had visited the suspect in prison in Bangkok.

“Embassy staff conducted a consular visit to the Russian citizen detained at the request of the United States,” Ilyin said, adding that the embassy was arranging for him to be able to meet with his relatives.

Thailand’s Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau said in a Nov. 12 statement that it was an FBI tip that the “world-class hacker” was traveling to Thailand that led to his arrest in Phuket on an international warrant.

In the raid on his hotel, police seized laptop computers, mobile phones, and digital wallets, the police's statement said, adding that FBI officials were on hand for the arrest.

Several media outlets reported that Aleksey Lukashev, a different 35-year-old Russian hacking suspect wanted by the FBI who has ties to Russian military intelligence, had been arrested in Phuket the following day.

Thai police said, however, there had only been one arrest and the U.S. Department of Justice told the AP that Lukashev “remains a wanted fugitive.”

The formal request for the Obrezko's extradition has been made but it was not clear how long the process would take.