A dual Russian and Israeli national was extradited to the United States on charges that he was a developer of the LockBit ransomware group. In August, Rostislav Panev, 51, was arrested in Israel pursuant to a US provisional arrest request. On March 13, Panev was extradited to the United States and had an initial appearance before US Magistrate Judge André M. Espinosa where Panev was detained pending trial. According to the superseding complaint, documents filed in this and related cases, and statements made in court, Panev acted as a developer of the LockBit ransomware group from its inception in or around 2019 through at least February 2024. During that time, Panev and his LockBit coconspirators grew LockBit into what was, at times, the most active and destructive ransomware group in the world.
The LockBit group attacked more than 2,500 victims in at least 120 countries around the world, including 1,800 in the United States. Their victims ranged from individuals and small businesses to multinational corporations, including hospitals, schools, nonprofit organizations, critical infrastructure, and government and law-enforcement agencies. LockBit’s members extracted at least $500 million in ransom payments from their victims and caused billions of dollars in other losses, including lost revenue and costs from incident response and recovery.
