Bah
Prosecutors did not say when, if ever, it expects to apprehend and extradite the Iran-based duo to face trial in the States.
US prosecutors have this week charged two people believed to be behind the notorious SamSam ransomware outbreak. The Department of Justice claims Iranian nationals Faramarz Shahi Savandi and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri masterminded the infection of more than 200 networks, including a handful of city governments and hospitals …
Computer crimes against US military hospitals where they treat people that have been harmed by top secret things can get you 18 years per offense. So if they tried to hack a hospital where an airman that worked on an Atlas in 1959 had been a patient, they can be persecuted under some particularly draconian cold war era laws. Being out of the easy reach of the US government is only a minor inconvenience unless they also managed to screw around with CIA operative's medical records.
It's not merely a minor inconvenience to the US gov at all.
These two, (well, the one they are sure is real, anyway) will never see the inside of a US court room. Ever.
This just makes a few people feel better. I'm sure the fellas in question weren't planning any US holidays any time soon. They've got their money (The BTC was immediately cashed out into real money) job done..
So the Feds "told" every single exchange, in every single country around the world they shall not process payments* for these addresses? I'm glad we worked out how things work. Or else what...?
* not that I'm defending those two pricks. It's just so rare to see the World Police openly in action...
From the linked-to Treasury page...
"...these digital currency addresses should assist those in the compliance and digital currency communities in identifying transactions and funds that must be blocked and investigating any connections to these addresses.
"As a result of today’s action, persons that engage in transactions with Khorashadizadeh and Ghorbaniyan could be subject to secondary sanctions. Regardless of whether a transaction is denominated in a digital currency or traditional fiat currency, OFAC compliance obligations are the same."
Read into that what you will.
C.
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