The money Vladislav Klyushin made from stolen financial information literally piled up, filling a safe with stacks of hundred-dollar bills. At one point, he was hoarding over $3 million in illegal gains.
In less than three years, Klyushin’s cybersecurity scam amassed more than $93 million. His company, M-13, acted as a front for Russian hackers to steal information under the guise of protecting it, getting their hands on American corporate earnings reports before the rest of the world could see them. Then, they traded based on that insight, buying and selling stock from well-known American companies like Sketchers, Snapchat and Roku.
Vladislav Klyushin, who was sentenced to nine years in an American prison for his $93 million hack-to-trade conspiracy. Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts
M-13 once targeted Tesla, stealing its drafted earnings release and buying stock based on a historically successful quarter. Once the final earnings report went public, shares of Tesla soared in price, and Klyushin’s team walked away with yet another stack of cash.
“[They’re] breaking into these American companies,” said Steven Frank, a federal prosecutor familiar with the case. “Stealing information day after day…and just trading on it.”
Klyushin grew his empire until he was riding on private jets and shaking hands with Russian government officials. But what the oligarch and his team didn’t know is that the FBI had been watching them — dissecting how the scam worked and determining what, if anything, they could do to stop it.
The homepage for the Russian cybersecurity firm M-13, which was stealing financial information from American companies.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts
Former prisoner held by Russia US journalist Evan Gershkovich smiles as he walks with his mother Ella Milman at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on August 1, 2024.
Roberto Schmidt | Afp | Getty Images
But the larger threat posed to American businesses, Javers said, isn’t over. This case is only the latest example of how the markets have become yet another sphere for the great powers to demonstrate their strength and undermine their rivals.
“It’s a war right now happening between Russia and the West,” an anonymous former member of the Russian FSB intelligence service told Javers. “Finances and banks and the financial sector itself is just one of the battlefields.”
In the recent CNBC documentary “Putin’s Trader,” Javers and his team reveal a persistent, ongoing threat to U.S. companies, investors and the markets themselves. Accompanying the documentary is “The Crimes of Putin’s Trader,” a podcast series premiering on Thursday, Aug. 15.
“At stake,” Javers said, “is the very integrity of American capital markets.”
Listen to “The Crimes of Putin’s Trader” on CNBC.com or other podcast platforms.
