The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has recently announced that Nikita Andreevich Sklyuev, also known as Valeriy Dorojkin, has been extradited from Ukraine and arraigned in Buffalo, NY, on charges of wire fraud and fraudulent use of an unauthorized access device. Sklyuev is accused of submitting a cryptocurrency wallet app, called “EOSIO Wallet Explorer,” to the Apple App Store in June 2018, which was designed to steal users’ private keys and grant Sklyuev access to their funds. Despite claiming to be a legitimate cryptocurrency wallet, the app was malicious and resulted in a victim in Western New York losing control of approximately $11.8 million in cryptocurrency. Sklyuev later transferred these funds to various online wallets under his control. The charges against Sklyuev carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sklyuev is currently being held pending a detention hearing on July 3, 2024. The extradition was made possible by the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, in collaboration with Romanian and Ukrainian authorities.
