When the U.S. State Department recently offered a reward of up to $2.5 million for information leading to the arrest of suspected cybercriminal Volodymyr Kadariya, it marked another turn in his life story, from criminal suspect to political dissident and back.
For 15 years, Kadariya has been a fugitive in his native Belarus on charges of cybercrime.
Prosecutors in the United States accused him of involvement in a scheme to send malware malicious to computers in the US. Millions of internet users were reported to have fallen victim to the scheme.
However, Kadariya was adept at hiding from the authorities.
After being suspected in Belarus, she left the country and lived abroad for years. Various reports and official statements from the United States and Belarus governments indicate that during that time, Kadariya managed to obtain asylum and eventually acquired Ukrainian citizenship.
When he was detained in Kyrgyzstan in 2022 on charges brought by Belarus, he said he faced political persecution. Several UN officials even opposed his extradition.
Currently, as the United States seeks to capture him, it is unclear whether Kadariya is still at large or not.
VOA has not been able to reach Kadariya for comment or confirm his whereabouts. He may be held in Belarus, where he was extradited a year and a half ago, but the Belarusian Interior Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. State Department and Justice Department also did not respond to VOA's questions about Kadariya's whereabouts.
Specifically, the State Department announced on August 26 that it was offering a $2.5 million reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Kadariya “in any country.” (em/lt)
