WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th May, 2023) US Judge Patti Saris has not yet decided on a petition for acquittal of Russian businessman Vladislav Klyushin, who was convicted by a Federal jury in February on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, and securities fraud, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Tuesday.
Earlier, the Russian's lawyers filed a petition demanding that the court overturn the verdict of the jury (who had previously found Klyushin guilty), acquit him, and dismiss the indictment. The defense considers it unlawful to consider this case in this court, saying that Boston has nothing to do with the crimes Klyushin is charged with. According to the defense, in the District of Massachusetts, "no secure computer was accessed, nor was any (confidential) data obtained." Therefore, according to the law, the evidence presented in this court does not allow the consideration of this case in this district, the defense argues.
Klyushin's lawyer Maxim Nemtsev told journalists that "nothing happened in Massachusetts, except that electronic information was passed from Russia to Illinois."
"They say it's enough to take a man in Switzerland and put him in front of a jury in Massachusetts," Nemtsev said.
According to the defense, Boston was just a "through" point that was connected to an intermediate IP address randomly assigned by the VPN. Lawyers note that the US government has not provided any evidence that Klyushin or his associates deliberately used the Boston IP address.
The defense pointed out that the Boston IP address was just one of more than 100 IP addresses used to access confidential data.
The prosecution, in turn, insists that the deliberate use by Klyushin and his comrades of a VPN with work through an IP address in Boston was part of the Russian's criminal plan.
"The purpose of using a VPN is to ensure that the operation that comes from Russia is not detected," one of the prosecutors said at a hearing on Tuesday. Therefore, according to the prosecution, the case can be considered in a Boston court.
Judge Saris called the consideration of the question that anyone who uses a VPN could be prosecuted anywhere a very sensitive issue and said that she plans to wait for the Supreme Court's decision in a similar case by the end of June, and then decide on the defense motion.
Nemtsev shared that Klyushin feels well.
Klyushin, the owner of the Russian information technology firm M-13, was found guilty by a jury in Boston, Massachusetts, on charges of conspiring to obtain unauthorized access to computers, wire fraud and securities fraud in connection to a $90 million scheme.
Klyushin was arrested in Switzerland in March of 2021 and extradited to the United States later that year.
