District of Oregon Armenian National Extradited to the United States Faces Federal Charges for Ransomware Extortion Conspiracy United States Department of Justice
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ppPORTLAND OreAn Armenian national extradited from Ukraine to the United States faces federal charges for his role in Ryuk ransomware attacks and extortion conspiracy targeting companies throughout the United States including a technology company operating in OregonppKaren Serobovich Vardanyan 33 an Armenian national has been charged with conspiracy fraud in connection with computers and extortion in connection with computers Vardanyan was extradited from Ukraine to the United States on June 18 2025ppLevon Georgiyovych Avetisyan 45 an Armenian national has been charged with conspiracy fraud in connection with computers and extortion in connection with computers Avetisyan is the subject of a United States extradition request in France ppOleg Nikolayevich Lyulyava 53 and Andrii Leonydovich Prykhodchenko 53 both Ukrainian nationals have been charged with conspiracy fraud in connection with computers and extortion in connection with computers Lyulyava and Prykhodchenko are not in custodyppAccording to court documents between March 2019 and September 2020 Vardanyan and coconspirators are alleged to have illegally accessed computer networks of victim companies to deploy Ryuk ransomware on hundreds of compromised servers and workstations Ryuk ransomware is a type of malicious software designed to encrypt data on a victims computer or network and prevents the victim from accessing the encrypted files until a ransom is paidppRyuk has been used to target thousands of victims worldwide across a variety of sectors including private industry state and local municipalities local school districts critical infrastructure and hospitals and other healthcare services and providers Ryuk attacks have severely disrupted these entities abilities to function by restricting access to data and impacting communicationsppAs part of the scheme ransom payments were extorted from victim companies in exchange for decryption keys to regain access to their data A ransom note was placed on the computer systems demanding ransom payments in Bitcoin a form of cryptocurrency and provided an email address that victims could use to communicate with the cybercriminals Vardanyan and coconspirators are alleged to have received approximately 1610 bitcoins in ransom payments from the victim companies which was valued at over 15 million at the time of paymentppVardanyan made his first appearance in federal court June 20 2025 before a US Magistrate Judge He was arraigned pleaded not guilty and ordered detained pending a sevenday jury trial scheduled to begin on August 26 2025ppIf convicted Vardanyan faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison three years supervised release and a fine of 250000 for each countppThe case is being investigated by the FBI It is being prosecuted by Katherine A Rykken Assistant US Attorney for the District of OregonppThe Justice Departments Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in securing Vardanyans arrest and extradition from Ukraine The US Attorneys Office thanks the Ukrainian authorities for their assistance in this matterppAn indictment is only an accusation of a crime and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guiltyppLuis Antonio Beltran Arredondo 35 a Mexican national unlawfully residing in North Las Vegas Nevada pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute heroinppA British man was sentenced to federal prison today for stealing nearly 19 million from a Portland resident in a romance fraud schemeppThe United States Attorneys Office USAO filed a civil forfeiture action to recover more than 67 million in funds alleged to be proceeds of a financial fraud schemeppDistrict of OregonMain Office1000 SW Third Ave Suite 600Portland Oregon 97204ppTelephone 5037271000ppStay ConnectedppppHave a question about Government Servicesp
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ppPORTLAND OreAn Armenian national extradited from Ukraine to the United States faces federal charges for his role in Ryuk ransomware attacks and extortion conspiracy targeting companies throughout the United States including a technology company operating in OregonppKaren Serobovich Vardanyan 33 an Armenian national has been charged with conspiracy fraud in connection with computers and extortion in connection with computers Vardanyan was extradited from Ukraine to the United States on June 18 2025ppLevon Georgiyovych Avetisyan 45 an Armenian national has been charged with conspiracy fraud in connection with computers and extortion in connection with computers Avetisyan is the subject of a United States extradition request in France ppOleg Nikolayevich Lyulyava 53 and Andrii Leonydovich Prykhodchenko 53 both Ukrainian nationals have been charged with conspiracy fraud in connection with computers and extortion in connection with computers Lyulyava and Prykhodchenko are not in custodyppAccording to court documents between March 2019 and September 2020 Vardanyan and coconspirators are alleged to have illegally accessed computer networks of victim companies to deploy Ryuk ransomware on hundreds of compromised servers and workstations Ryuk ransomware is a type of malicious software designed to encrypt data on a victims computer or network and prevents the victim from accessing the encrypted files until a ransom is paidppRyuk has been used to target thousands of victims worldwide across a variety of sectors including private industry state and local municipalities local school districts critical infrastructure and hospitals and other healthcare services and providers Ryuk attacks have severely disrupted these entities abilities to function by restricting access to data and impacting communicationsppAs part of the scheme ransom payments were extorted from victim companies in exchange for decryption keys to regain access to their data A ransom note was placed on the computer systems demanding ransom payments in Bitcoin a form of cryptocurrency and provided an email address that victims could use to communicate with the cybercriminals Vardanyan and coconspirators are alleged to have received approximately 1610 bitcoins in ransom payments from the victim companies which was valued at over 15 million at the time of paymentppVardanyan made his first appearance in federal court June 20 2025 before a US Magistrate Judge He was arraigned pleaded not guilty and ordered detained pending a sevenday jury trial scheduled to begin on August 26 2025ppIf convicted Vardanyan faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison three years supervised release and a fine of 250000 for each countppThe case is being investigated by the FBI It is being prosecuted by Katherine A Rykken Assistant US Attorney for the District of OregonppThe Justice Departments Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in securing Vardanyans arrest and extradition from Ukraine The US Attorneys Office thanks the Ukrainian authorities for their assistance in this matterppAn indictment is only an accusation of a crime and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guiltyppLuis Antonio Beltran Arredondo 35 a Mexican national unlawfully residing in North Las Vegas Nevada pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute heroinppA British man was sentenced to federal prison today for stealing nearly 19 million from a Portland resident in a romance fraud schemeppThe United States Attorneys Office USAO filed a civil forfeiture action to recover more than 67 million in funds alleged to be proceeds of a financial fraud schemeppDistrict of OregonMain Office1000 SW Third Ave Suite 600Portland Oregon 97204ppTelephone 5037271000ppStay ConnectedppppHave a question about Government Servicesp
