Israeli private detective used Indian hackers in job for Russian oligarchs -court filing

Wirecard AG

27/05/2022 23:04

By Raphael Satter
    WASHINGTON, May 27 (Reuters) - An Israeli private
investigator currently in U.S. custody used Indian hackers to
conduct surveillance operations for ultra-wealthy Russians, a
reporter said in a court filing late Wednesday. 
    Independent journalist Scott Stedman told a court in New
York that jailed private detective Aviram Azari worked "on
surveillance and cyber-intelligence operations at the behest of
Russian oligarchs," citing a mix of public reporting and
confidential sources. 
    Stedman said in a declaration that one of the Russian
oligarchs concerned was aluminum tycoon Oleg Deripaska, whom he
said indirectly employed Azari in connection with a business
dispute in Austria. 
    Deripaska's spokeswoman said in an email that the
allegations were "blatantly untrue." A lawyer for Azari, who
last month pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit hacking and
aggravated identity theft in a separate case, did not return
messages.
    Stedman made his declaration in support of his request to
subpoena Azari for evidence to fight a U.K. libel suit filed
against him by British-Israeli security consultant Walter
Soriano in 2020. 
    In a series of articles for his publication, Forensic News,
Stedman claimed, among other things, that Soriano was a
middleman between wealthy Russians and surveillance firms. 
    Soriano denied the allegations and sued over the articles,
accusing Stedman of mounting a campaign of defamation, invasion
of privacy, and harassment. 
    Stedman's lawyer told the New York court that "multiple
confidential sources" told the reporter that Azari "worked
closely with Soriano for years" and thus the jailed private
eye's testimony and documents could "corroborate the truth of
Forensic News' reporting."
    In an email to Reuters, Soriano's lawyer Shlomo
Rechtschaffen said that Stedman's claims were "false and
unfounded" and that the reporter "has no evidence" that his
client and Azari worked together as alleged. 
    In a statement to Reuters, Stedman said he had "very strong
reason to believe that Mr. Azari worked with Mr. Soriano on
cyber-related projects for multiple Russian oligarchs and other
billionaires" and that he was subpoenaing Azari as part of an
effort "to defend my journalism and my business." 
    Azari is currently being held in federal prison in Brooklyn
awaiting sentencing in relation to a hacking campaign tied to
the defunct German financial technology company Wirecard AG
 WDIG.F , his lawyer said last month.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2WI1KS 
    Reuters reported last year that Azari was accused of hiring
the Indian hacking firm BellTroX on behalf of powerful clients.
BellTroX, which has also been accused of hacking by
cybersecurity researchers at Facebook and elsewhere, could not
be reached for comment.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2T12MC 
   

 (Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
 ((Raphael.Satter@thomsonreuters.com;))