Federal prosecutors said on Tuesday that the United States had extradited a Romanian man accused of helping spread a computer virus that infected more than a million devices and caused huge financial losses worldwide.
Mihai Paunescu, 37, is accused of operating a service that helped spread the “Josie” virus, which stole personal bank account information while remaining nearly undetectable.
Paunescu appeared for the first time on Monday in federal court in Manhattan, where a warrant was issued for his detention.
Prosecutors said the virus was one of the most financially devastating, causing tens of millions of dollars in losses to its victims.
The virus was first discovered in 2007 and was able to infect at least 40,000 computers in the United States, including more than 160 computers in the US Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Paunescu was deported from Colombia after he was arrested last year and charged with conspiracy to hack computers and conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
A lawyer for Paunescu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Paunescu was previously arrested in Romania in 2012 before being released on bail.
The following year, US prosecutors announced indictments against Paunescu and Nikita Kuzmin, the Russian designer of the virus, who secretly pleaded guilty in 2011 as part of a cooperation agreement.
