Inside the $93 million Wall Street heist that stemmed from Russia
The money Vladislav Klyushin made from stolen financial information literally piled up, filling a safe with stacks of hundred-dollar bills. At one point, he was hoarding over $3 million in illegal gains.
In less than three years, Klyushin’s cybersecurity scam amassed more than $93 million. His company, M-13, acted as a front for Russian hackers to steal information under the guise of protecting it, getting their hands on American corporate earnings reports before the rest of the world could see them. Then, they traded based on that insight, buying and selling stock from well-known American companies like Skechers, Snapchat and Roku.
M-13 once targeted Tesla, stealing its drafted earnings release and buying stock based on a historically successful quarter. Once the final earnings report went public, shares of Tesla soared in price, and Klyushin’s team walked away with yet another stack of cash.
