The Department of Justice stated on Wednesday that Yaroslav Vasinskyi, the Ukrainian national who goes by Rabotnik, has been sentenced to 13 years and seven months in jail for his involvement in carrying out over 2,500 ransomware operations and requesting over $700 million in ransom payments.
The sentence is a component of a larger offensive against ransomware organisations that U.S. President Joe Biden committed to in November 2021. Following his breach of Miami-based software vendor Kaseya, REvil requested $70 million in bitcoin (BTC) and made that guarantee.
Following requests from the United States, Russian officials raided and dismantled REvil in March 2022.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland declared, “As this sentencing demonstrates, the Justice Department is working with our international partners and using all tools at our disposal to identify cybercriminals, capture their illicit profits, and hold them accountable for their crimes.”
In addition, Rabotnik, 24, has been compelled to pay over $16 million in restitution for his affiliation with groups that “hide their ill-gotten gains” by employing mixing services to demand payments in cryptocurrency using the ransomware variation known as Sodinokibi or REvil.
Rabotnik previously entered a guilty plea to an 11-count indictment against him, alleging “conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with computers, damage to protected computers, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.” Rabotnik was extradited to the United States from Poland.
About 40 bitcoin, or roughly $2.3 million at current rates, and $6.1 million in monies linked to ransom payments received by additional conspirators were seized by the DOJ in 2023.