'Ghost Click' Defendants Found Not Guilty
Five individuals due to be extradited to the US for cyber crimes and money laundering were found not guilty by Harju County Court today.
The court ruled that the defendants' activities did not constitute criminal offenses and ordered that their confiscated assets be freed. The Prosecutor's Office told uudised.err.ee that it would appeal the ruling.
If the defendants do end up being found not guilty by the next instances of Estonian courts, most of them will still be extradited and charged in the US.
The defendants were part of a group arrested in the FBI-led operation Ghost Click in 2011.
Led by Vladimir Tšaštšin, the seven-strong criminal group was responsible for DNSChanger, malware that infected 4 million computers around the world from 2006 to 2011. Using the malware, the group stole over 20 million US dollars in Internet advertising revenue. Investigators have confiscated 143 properties from the accused.