14/08/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 15/08/2024 00:11
WASHINGTON - Georgy Kavzharadze, 27, of Moscow, Russia, was sentenced today to 40 months in prison for being a prolific vendor of stolen financial information, login credentials, and other personally identifying information (PII) on a criminal internet marketplace called Slilpp, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Scott of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division.
Kavzharadze pleaded guilty February 16, 2024, to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. In addition to the prison term, Judge Kollar-Kotelly ordered Kavzharadze to pay $1,233,521.47 in restitution.
Kavzharadze is also known as "George" and went by online monikers of "TeRorPP," "Torqovec," and "PlutuSS." In Cyrillic his name is ГЕОРГИЙ КАХОВИЧ КАВЖАРАДЗЕ.
According to court documents, between July 2016 and May 2021, Kavzharadze, using the name "TeRorPP," listed over 626,100 stolen login credentials for sale on Slilpp and sold more than 297,300 of them on the illegal marketplace. Those credentials were subsequently linked to $1.2 million in fraudulent transactions. On May 27, 2021, Kavzharadze's account on Slilpp listed 240,495 login credentials for sale that would allow the buyer to use the information to steal money from the victim's online payment and bank accounts. The credentials included access to accounts with banks located in New York, California, Nevada, and Georgia. Kavzharadze accepted Bitcoin as payment for the credentials. An FBI analysis connected Kavzharadze to withdrawals of more $200,000 in Slilpp profits from his Bitcoin account.
In June 2021, the FBI, in a coordinated action with international law enforcement partners, disrupted Slilpp by seizing its infrastructure and domain names. The Slilpp database contained a wealth of historical information about Slilpp vendors, customers, and transactions, including subscriber and payment information for individual accounts that have been used to buy and sell login credentials over Slilpp. The database accurately reflected known Slilpp transactions and subscriber records, including FBI undercover purchases.
On August 24, 2021, Kavzharadze was charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud, bank fraud, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft. He was subsequently extradited to the United States. His initial appearance occurred May 18, 2022, in U.S. District Court. Kavzharadze has been detained since his extradition to the United States.
This case was investigated by the FBI's Washington Field Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Macey and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Misher. Valuable assistance was provided by Paralegal Specialist Lisa Abbe, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Demian S. Ahn, and former Paralegal Specialist Michon Tart.
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