CINCINNATI — A man was sentenced in federal court for his role as negotiator in one of the most notorious ransomware groups in the world.
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Deniss Zolotarjovs, 33, was sentenced to 8.5 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit both money laundering and wire fraud.
During Zolotarjovs’ involvement with Karakurt, TommyLeaks, and SchoolBoys from June 2021 through March 2023, the group had at least 53 victims and caused more than $56 million in actual losses, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
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Victim companies and clients were located in the southern Ohio area.
Chats show that Zolotarjovs was involved in directly negotiating with victim companies and in strategizing on the extortion threats.
He helped escalate the pressure on a pediatric healthcare victim company that was refusing to promptly pay a ransom by deliberately leveraging “patient lists and histories.”
He also recommended publishing pediatric patient data on the dark web.
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