2025-05-30 sec-litreleases litigation_release 67 KB 3,411 chars

SEC v. Vladislav Kliushin, No. LR-26318, District of Massachusetts (May 30, 2025) — Press Release

raw: Vladislav Kliushin

Vladislav Kliushin, No. LR-26318 (May 30, 2025)

Caption
SEC v. Vladislav Kliushin
summary

Vladislav Kliushin secured a final judgment for his role in an $82.5 million hack-to-trade scheme involving the theft of nonpublic earnings data from U.S. filing agents.

paragraph

Vladislav Kliushin was found liable for violating the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 in an $82.5 million hack-to-trade scheme. The scheme involved hacking U.S. filing agent companies to obtain material nonpublic pre-release earnings announcements. Following a criminal conviction, Kliushin's prison sentence was commuted via an Executive Grant of Clemency, though his financial liabilities remained.

narrative

The SEC obtained final judgment against Vladislav Kliushin for his participation in a multi-year hack-to-trade scheme that generated at least $82.5 million in illicit profits. Kliushin and his co-defendants hacked U.S.-based filing agent companies to access material nonpublic earnings data to gain a trading advantage. In a parallel criminal case, Kliushin was convicted of securities fraud, though his nine-year prison term was later commuted via an Executive Grant of Clemency. The court found him liable for violating the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The final judgment imposes permanent injunctive relief and requires disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus interest. These financial obligations will be satisfied through existing orders of forfeiture and restitution from his criminal case.

Enriched metadata

Scheme
cyber-fraud (100%)
Court
District of Massachusetts
Outcome
convicted · 2024-07-26
Entity
Vladislav Kliushin
Classified cyber-fraud(confidence 100%). No EDGAR filing fingerprint (criminal/DOJ-side scheme). detection rule →
Parties
Securities and Exchange CommissionVladislav Kliushin
Keywords
kliushinsecsecuritiesvladislav kliushinsecurities exchangeexchangeexchange commissionfinal againstmarket abuseabuse unitvladislavfinalschemeagainstkliushin vladislav

Exhibits & Attached Documents (1)

Extracted insights

Dollar amounts 2
  • $82.50M $82.5 million $10M–$100M
  • $80.00M $80 Million $10M–$100M
Entities 5
  • agency Securities and Exchange Commission
  • agency united states attorney's office for the district of massachusetts
  • court u.s. district court for the district of massachusetts
  • person vladislav kliushin
  • scheme_term vladislav kliushin with securities fraud and other charges
Triples 15
  • Securities And Exchange Commission obtains final judgment Vladislav Kliushin
  • Vladislav Kliushin engaged in multi-year fraudulent scheme to profit by trading on material nonpublic pre-release earnings announcements
  • Vladislav Kliushin obtained material nonpublic pre-release earnings announcements by hacking into systems of two U.S.-based filing agent companies
  • Vladislav Kliushin realized at least $82.5 million in illicit profits
  • United States Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts charged Vladislav Kliushin with securities fraud and other charges
  • United States Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts convicted Vladislav Kliushin by a jury
  • President of the United States issued Executive Grant of Clemency to Vladislav Kliushin
  • President of the United States commuted Vladislav Kliushin’s nine-year term of imprisonment to time served
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts found Vladislav Kliushin violated Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 thereunder
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts entered final judgment against Vladislav Kliushin
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ordered permanent injunctive relief against future violations of securities laws
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts found Vladislav Kliushin liable for disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest
  • Securities And Exchange Commission investigated fraudulent hack-to-trade scheme
  • Securities And Exchange Commission litigated case against Vladislav Kliushin
  • Securities And Exchange Commission appreciates assistance from United States Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, and Cyprus Securities And Exchange Commission
PDF (from attached: pdf)
Text layers
Extracted body text (3,411c)
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 26318 / May 30, 2025 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Vladislav Kliushin, et al., No. 21-cv-12088 (D. Mass. filed Dec. 20, 2021) SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Russian Defendant in $80 Million Hacking and Trading Scheme On May 22, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts entered a final judgment against defendant Vladislav Kliushin (a/k/a Vladislav Klyushin) for his participation in a fraudulent hack-to-trade scheme. According to the SEC’s complaint filed on December 20, 2021, Kliushin and four other defendants engaged in a multi-year fraudulent scheme to profit by trading on material nonpublic pre-release earnings announcements of public companies that defendants deceptively obtained by hacking into the systems of two U.S.-based filing agent companies that assist publicly-traded companies with preparing and filing reports with the SEC. The complaint further alleges that, through the scheme, Kliushin and other defendants collectively realized at least $82.5 million in illicit profits. In a parallel criminal case brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, Kliushin was charged and convicted by a jury of securities fraud and other charges for the same unlawful conduct alleged in the SEC’s complaint. Following his conviction, on July 26, 2024, the President of the United States issued Kliushin an Executive Grant of Clemency, commuting Kliushin’s nine-year term of imprisonment to time served, and Kliushin was released from custody as part of a prisoner exchange among several countries. The Executive Grant of Clemency did not otherwise impact the conviction or orders of forfeiture and restitution in the criminal case. On May 22, 2025, the Court granted the SEC’s unopposed motion for summary judgment and entered final judgment against Kliushin. As set forth in the final judgment, the Court found that, by perpetrating the fraudulent scheme, Kliushin violated Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, both directly and through or by the means of his co-defendant in violation of Exchange Act Section 20(b), as well as by aiding and abetting his co-defendant’s violations. The final judgment provides for permanent injunctive relief against future violations of these securities laws. Kliushin was also found liable for disgorgement of his ill-gotten gains resulting from the conduct alleged in the complaint, plus prejudgment interest, which shall be deemed satisfied by payment on the orders of forfeiture and restitution in the parallel criminal case. The SEC’s investigation was conducted by David Bennett and Diana Tani of the SEC's Market Abuse Unit with assistance from Darren Boerner of the Market Abuse Unit and IT Forensics staff Ken Zavos. Joseph Sansone, Chief of the Market Abuse Unit, supervised the investigation. The Division of Economic and Risk Analysis provided substantial assistance during the investigation and litigation. The SEC’s litigation was handled by Jennifer Farer and David Mendel, with supervision by James Connor. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission.
OCR text (3,411c · html-text · 99% conf)
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 26318 / May 30, 2025 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Vladislav Kliushin, et al., No. 21-cv-12088 (D. Mass. filed Dec. 20, 2021) SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Russian Defendant in $80 Million Hacking and Trading Scheme On May 22, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts entered a final judgment against defendant Vladislav Kliushin (a/k/a Vladislav Klyushin) for his participation in a fraudulent hack-to-trade scheme. According to the SEC’s complaint filed on December 20, 2021, Kliushin and four other defendants engaged in a multi-year fraudulent scheme to profit by trading on material nonpublic pre-release earnings announcements of public companies that defendants deceptively obtained by hacking into the systems of two U.S.-based filing agent companies that assist publicly-traded companies with preparing and filing reports with the SEC. The complaint further alleges that, through the scheme, Kliushin and other defendants collectively realized at least $82.5 million in illicit profits. In a parallel criminal case brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, Kliushin was charged and convicted by a jury of securities fraud and other charges for the same unlawful conduct alleged in the SEC’s complaint. Following his conviction, on July 26, 2024, the President of the United States issued Kliushin an Executive Grant of Clemency, commuting Kliushin’s nine-year term of imprisonment to time served, and Kliushin was released from custody as part of a prisoner exchange among several countries. The Executive Grant of Clemency did not otherwise impact the conviction or orders of forfeiture and restitution in the criminal case. On May 22, 2025, the Court granted the SEC’s unopposed motion for summary judgment and entered final judgment against Kliushin. As set forth in the final judgment, the Court found that, by perpetrating the fraudulent scheme, Kliushin violated Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, both directly and through or by the means of his co-defendant in violation of Exchange Act Section 20(b), as well as by aiding and abetting his co-defendant’s violations. The final judgment provides for permanent injunctive relief against future violations of these securities laws. Kliushin was also found liable for disgorgement of his ill-gotten gains resulting from the conduct alleged in the complaint, plus prejudgment interest, which shall be deemed satisfied by payment on the orders of forfeiture and restitution in the parallel criminal case. The SEC’s investigation was conducted by David Bennett and Diana Tani of the SEC's Market Abuse Unit with assistance from Darren Boerner of the Market Abuse Unit and IT Forensics staff Ken Zavos. Joseph Sansone, Chief of the Market Abuse Unit, supervised the investigation. The Division of Economic and Risk Analysis provided substantial assistance during the investigation and litigation. The SEC’s litigation was handled by Jennifer Farer and David Mendel, with supervision by James Connor. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission.