The U.S. Department of Justice seized $24 million in Crypto Assets from the Qakbot malware developer.

According to ChainCatcher news, as reported by Cointelegraph, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit seeking to seize over $24 million in Crypto Assets held by Russian citizen Rustam Rafailevich Gallyamov, who is accused of developing the Qakbot malware. The indictment shows that Gallyamov has been operating Qakbot malware since 2008, infecting thousands of computers to build a botnet in 2019, and selling access to ransomware gangs. These gangs carried out attacks using ransomware such as Prolock, Dopplepaymer, and REvil. In a 2023 international operation, U.S. authorities seized 170 bitcoins and over $4 million in stablecoins held by Gallyamov. Gallyamov and his accomplices then switched to new technologies, directly deploying Black Basta and Cactus ransomware to continue their crimes.