Karim Baratov is a Canadian citizen who was living in Ancaster, Ont. when he was indicted by a U.S. court in connection with a massive Russian hacking scheme.
American authorities have asked for the 22-year-old to be extradited to the States to face charges of conspiracy to commit fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Canadian Extradition Act
Under the Canadian Extradition Act, which lays out the process for extradition with other countries, the federal government can enter into a “specific agreement” to arrange extradition for a particular case. This may occur when a foreign state asks to extradite a Canadian citizen, resident, or a person of interest who fled to Canada, for the purpose of prosecution, following through with sentencing of those already convicted, or enforcing a sentencing.
To begin the process, a foreign government must make a formal request for extradition to Canada’s Minister of Justice, Jody Wilson-Raybould. In Baratov’s case, where the foreign country urgently wants a person in Canada to be detained, they may make a “provisional arrest” request, with an extradition request to follow.
The Department of Justice then has 30 days to determine whether the alleged crimes would be considered crimes on Canadian soil. After looking at the evidence, the Minister of Justice must then decide whether to surrender the accused to a foreign state.
Minister of Justice Jody Wilson-Raybould will have until June 12 to issue an authority to proceed with extradition.
Karim Baratov poses in front of his house in Ancaster, Ont. in an undated photo.
Baratov faces multiple fraud charges
Baratov faces charges laid by the U.S. Justice Department including conspiring to commit computer fraud and abuse, conspiring to commit access device fraud, conspiring to commit wire fraud and eight counts of aggravated identity theft.
The case involves a data breach that impacted at least half a billion Yahoo user accounts.
Read more at The Star
