Republished February 26, 2018 - 7:36 AM
Original Publication Date February 26, 2018 - 4:21 AM
LONDON - Ukrainian police say they have rearrested the ringleader of a cybercrime group accused of inflicting hundreds of millions of dollars in losses worldwide. It comes 15 months after his embarrassing escape put the spotlight on corruption in the Eastern European country.
Ukraine's Interior Ministry says the cybercrime boss was detained Sunday in Kyiv. The ministry doesn't identify the man, but Cyberpolice spokeswoman Yulia Kvitko says he is Gennadiy Kapkanov, whose "Avalanche" group was once described by a group of researchers as the world's most prolific phishing gang.
Kapkanov had previously been arrested in a dramatic police raid in Poltava on Nov. 30, 2016, but he was released almost immediately amid allegations of official corruption, and absconded.
A representative for Kapkanov couldn't immediately be located Monday.
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This story has been corrected to show that the man's name is Gennadiy, not Evgeny.
News from © The Associated Press, 2018