US authorities arrested and charged a Texas man accused of masterminding a scheme using a Russian hacker and spam

(AFP) – 2 hours ago

WASHINGTON — US authorities Monday arrested and charged a Texas man accused of masterminding a scheme using a Russian hacker and an email spam campaign to pump up the value of fledgling companies, the Justice Department said.

Christopher Rad, 42, of Cedar Park, Texas, was arrested by FBI agents on a federal indictment charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and transmit commercial email messages with fraudulent information.

The scheme employed hackers, including at least one in Russia, to distribute computer viruses to infect computers around the world and create so-called "botnet" computers that were used to manipulate stocks, a Justice Department statement said.