PARIS – The trial of a Russian man alleged to have used ransomware in a 135 million euros ($157 million) bitcoin fraud will begin Monday.Alexander Vinnik, who is also wanted in the United States and in Russia, faces up to ten years in prison at his Paris trial over charges of extortion, money laundering and criminal association.French prosecutors say Vinnik was one of the creators of malware called “Locky” which was delivered through email.
If downloaded, the recipient's data was encrypted and they were asked to pay a ransom in bitcoin to free it. In France, companies, legal offices and local councils were targeted between 2016 and 2018.