Montenegro arrests person wanted by US for cybercrimes in favor of Iran

Montenegrin authorities on Thursday arrested in Kotor a person linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, who is wanted by the United States for organized hacking attacks, computer fraud and identity theft.

The Montenegrin Ministry of Internal Affairs identified the arrested man as a 39-year-old with dual Turkish and Iranian citizenship, and with the initials AB.

He is considered a high-profile target, according to the announcement.

He was arrested to ensure his presence in the criminal proceedings being conducted against him in New York Supreme Court, on several charges.

According to the announcement, he is accused of three criminal offenses: conspiracy to commit computer fraud and hacking, as well as identity theft, where since 2013, as an associate of a legal entity from the territory of Iran, he has carried out massive hacking attacks against US infrastructure, against over 150 universities in the US, causing damage estimated at over 3.4 billion dollars.

The stolen data, as well as access to compromised university accounts, was used to benefit Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other Iranian users, including universities based in Iran, the announcement said.

The IRGC is Iran's elite military force that answers directly to the supreme leader.

According to experts, security and political developments in Iran following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have allowed the IRGC to play a central role in the country's domestic and foreign affairs.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Montenegro also announced that the international search team of the NCB Interpol Podgorica and INTERPOL have cooperated over the past three years to locate and arrest seven people in Montenegro.

"These individuals are wanted by the FBI and the judicial authorities of the United States of America. All were located and arrested within a very short time, based on the accurate exchange of intelligence data by the FAST team in our territory," the announcement states.

The suspect arrested on Thursday will be sent within the legal deadline to the investigating judge of the High Court in Podgorica for further proceedings regarding his extradition to the competent US authorities.

Radio Free Europe has reached out to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Montenegro, as well as the FBI, for more information on this case.