BANGKOK — Police have arrested a suspected Russian hacker on the Thai resort island of Phuket who was wanted by the FBI for his alleged involvement in cyberattacks on U.S. and European government agencies, officials said.
The 35-year-old man, who entered Thailand on October 30 at Phuket airport, was taken into custody earlier this month at his hotel and is being held pending possible extradition, Thai police said.
The suspect's name has not been released, but the Russian state news agency Russia Today identified him as Denis Obrezko, a native of Stavropol. His relatives reportedly confirmed his arrest on November 6 and plan to fight his extradition to the United States.
In an email Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department declined to comment on the possible extradition or provide other details. The US State Department and US officials in Thailand also declined 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 “received notification of the arrest of a Russian citizen on charges of committing an information technology crime.”
“He was arrested on November 6 and taken to Bangkok on the same day,” Ivanov said, without providing details.
The head of the consular department of the Russian Embassy in Thailand, Ilya Ilyin, told TASS on Monday that Russian diplomats visited the suspect in prison in Bangkok.
“Embassy staff conducted a consular visit to a Russian citizen detained at the request of the United States,” Ilyin said, adding that the embassy will organize a meeting for him with his relatives.
Thailand's Cyber Crime Bureau said in a statement on November 12 that it was FBI information that the “world-class hacker” was traveling to Thailand that led to his arrest in Phuket on an international warrant.
Police confiscated laptops, cellphones and digital wallets during the raid at his hotel, the police statement said, adding that the FBI was present during the arrest.
Several media outlets reported that a second Russian hacking suspect wanted by the FBI with ties to Russian military intelligence was arrested the next day in Phuket, but Thai police said there was only one arrest.
A formal request to extradite the suspect has been made, but it is unclear how long the process will take.
