Vladislav Horohorin

Early Life

Vladislav Horohorin was born on September 29, 1982, and grew up in Donetsk, Ukraine. In 1999, he emigrated to Israel with his mother, where he subsequently served in the Israeli Defence Forces.

Criminal Activity and Investigation

Horohorin operated under the alias BadB and became known to U.S. law enforcement as one of the founders of CarderPlanet, a website used by cybercriminal organizations to traffic counterfeit credit cards and fraudulent identification information and documents. CarderPlanet and several related sites were taken down in 2004 as part of Operation Firewall, an undercover investigation led by the United States Secret Service. The sites functioned both as information-sharing hubs for fraud techniques and as marketplaces for fraud-related tools and data.

Michael Merritt, Assistant Director for Investigations at the Secret Service, described the network associated with CarderPlanet's founders, including Horohorin, as "one of the most sophisticated organizations of online financial criminals in the world," noting that it had been repeatedly linked to major intrusions of financial information reported to international law enforcement.

As part of his promotional activities, Horohorin created video cartoons that ridiculed American cardholders, using them to advertise his illegal services.

In 2013, Horohorin was named as a co-conspirator — though not subsequently charged — in a criminal case in the District of New Jersey (09-626 JBS). That case involved other Russian individuals charged with hacking into the systems of numerous major corporations, including Nasdaq, 7-Eleven, Carrefour, JCPenney, Heartland Payment Systems, Dow Jones, and JetBlue, among more than two dozen others. The U.S. Department of Justice described the breach as the "largest known data breach conspiracy ever prosecuted." As of April 2017, none of Horohorin's co-conspirators in that case had been sentenced.

Arrest and Extradition

Horohorin was identified as BadB in a sealed indictment issued by the United States Attorney's Office in November 2009. He was arrested on August 7, 2010, in Nice, France, while attempting to board a flight to Warsaw, Poland. The international legal proceedings that followed were complex, and he was not extradited to the United States until June 6, 2012. During his detention in France, he was held at the Maison D'Arret D'Aix-Luynes, near Aix-en-Provence. The Criminal Division's Office of International Affairs managed his extradition.

Guilty Plea and Sentencing

Horohorin was arraigned on June 7, 2012, and detained pending trial. He subsequently pleaded guilty to two counts of access device fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was sentenced to 88 months in federal prison. In February 2017, he was released and deported from the United States.

Later Career

Following his release, Horohorin transitioned to legitimate work, taking on a role as a private consultant and security auditor for cybersec.org.