Two Israeli men accused of securities fraud and hacks into media outlets and nine financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase, Fidelity Investments and E*Trade Financial Corp., will be extradited to the U.S., according to Bloomberg.
The extradition was approved by an Israeli court opening the path for Ziv Orenstein and Gery Shalon to face trial following their arrest in July at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice. The two men, along with a third non-Israeli, also face charges related to identity theft, unlawful internet gambling and money laundering that netted them hundreds of millions of dollars.
Prosecutors said the men stole personally identifiable information of 100 million customers between 2007 and 2015. As well, the group is accused of "pump and dump" schemes – manipulating stock prices via promotional emails that touted "hot" stocks and then selling their shares after valuations spiked.
The group is believed to have carried out the hacks via an Egypt-based computer server which they rented under an alias.
"By any measure, the data breaches at these firms were breathtaking in scope and in size," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in November 2015 when a 23-count indictment was unveiled against the three men. The attacks, he added, illustrate a "brave new world of hacking for profit."
