US and allies arrest alleged cybercrime ringleader, seize millions in sports cars in major Covid-19 fraud bust

CNN —

A 35-year-old Chinese man has been arrested in Singapore, and millions of dollars in cars, watches and real estate have been seized as part of a blockbuster raid on a global cybercriminal network that defrauded the US government of billions of dollars, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

The Chinese man, YunHe Wang, is accused of helping assemble a vast network of infected computers, known as a botnet, that was used to carry out bomb threats, send child exploitation materials online and conduct financial fraud, among other schemes, the department alleges. Fraudsters used the botnet to submit tens of thousands of fake applications for federal relief during the coronavirus pandemic, leading to losses of about $5.9 billion, according to statements from the Departments of Justice and Treasury.

The alleged cybercriminal conduct and the lavish lifestyle it funded “reads like it’s ripped from a screenplay,” Matthew Axelrod, a senior US Commerce Department official involved in the investigation, said in a statement.

Law enforcement agents seized about $4 million worth of watches, sports cars and other luxury assets, including a Ferrari and Rolls-Royce, and $30 million in real estate properties across East Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean and the US, Brett Leatherman, a senior FBI official, told reporters. Wang used money he earned from renting the botnet to buy property in those locations, according to an indictment unsealed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Authorities in Singapore and Thailand worked with the FBI on the bust, the Justice Department said.

Court records did not list an attorney for Wang. Leatherman said the US government was pursuing his extradition to the US and