A court in Paris arrested 26-year-old Russian basketball player Daniil Kasatkin at the request of the USA on suspicion of participating in a hacker network using ransomware, reported the newspaper Le Monde citing data from the agency AFP.
Professional basketball player Daniil Kasatkin was arrested on June 21 in France at the request of the USA, which suspects him of participating in a hacker group engaged in extortion using ransomware; on July 8, his arrest was extended. The basketball player himself disputes these accusations.
Kasatkin was arrested at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport when he arrived in France with his fiancée, to whom he had just proposed.
The US authorities accuse the Russian basketball player of being involved with a hacker group that attacked about 900 companies, including two federal institutions, from 2020 to 2022. American authorities believe that the athlete "participated in ransom payment negotiations on behalf of this network." "The basketball player, who studied in the USA for some time, is under an American arrest warrant on charges of 'conspiracy to commit computer fraud,'" writes the publication, noting that Kasatkin is currently awaiting extradition to the USA.
Kasatkin's defense claims that he is not involved in hacker activities and that the basketball player became a victim of deception. According to the defense, Kasatkin "bought a used computer," which he even "did not touch." "He was either hacked, or a hacker sold him the device to act on someone else's behalf," the publication quotes lawyer Frederic Belo.
Daniil Kasatkin is a professional basketball player who played for four years for the club "MBA-MAI" in the "VTB United League." On July 3, that is, after the arrest in France, the club's press service announced the athlete's departure without specifying the reasons.
Photo: TASS