A Russian hacker has pled guilty in a U.S court to aiding in the theft of $1.6 million, international media reported Monday.
Vadim Polyakov, 32, was the leader of a $1.6-million international ticket-scamming ring. He hacked into more than 1,000 accounts on U.S. ticket sales website StubHub.
Using the credit card details attached to the accounts, he and his accomplices purchased over 3,500 tickets to music and sporting events, prosecutors said.
Tickets were sold at a profit, with the illicit proceeds directed into multiple bank accounts to be laundered, prosecutors said.
A further nine people from different countries have been implicated in the case, two of whom are still on the lam. Polyakov was also charged with money laundering and is the first defendant to plead guilty. Two more Russian citizens are yet to stand trial.
In July 2014, Polyakov was arrested while in holiday in Spain at the request of U.S. law enforcement officials. He was? extradited? to the United States in 2015, despite objections from the Russian government.
Polyakov is set to be sentenced on July 6, the New York Post reported Monday. He now faces up to 12 years? in prison.?