A Dutch court ruled Tuesday that a Russian national accused by U.S. authorities of playing a role in the theft of 160 million credit and debit card numbers can be extradited to stand trial there, the Bloomberg agency reported.
Vladimir Drinkman had sought extradition to Russia, where his young daughter and wife live, news agency AFP reported. His lawyer told Bloomberg they plan to appeal the decision.
Drinkman is a suspected member of a Russian and Ukrainian hacking collective believed to have penetrated the systems of 17 financial institutions, retailers and payment processing services, obtaining millions of credit card numbers.
The operation is reportedly the largest ever uncovered by U.S. authorities.
