The U.S. Requests Israel to Extradite a LockBit Developer

On December 20, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice formally requested that Israel extradite Rostislav Panev, a 51-year-old Israeli-Russian accused of being one of the developers for the ransomware gang LockBit. In February 2024, an international police operation coordinated by Europol targeted the criminal group, resulting in the seizure of its public website and several arrests. Law enforcement agencies have since continued their investigations into the gang.

As part of this effort, Israeli police arrested Rostislav Panev on August 18, 2024. At the time, Europol announced that a “LockBit developer” had been apprehended at the request of French authorities but provided no further details. LockBit was the world’s most active ransomware gang between 2022 and 2023, with over 2,500 victims and approximately €500 million in ransom payments collected between 2019 and 2024.

According to the U.S. indictment, Panev’s arrest provided “critical evidence” regarding the gang’s activities, particularly its malware. Israeli police also uncovered messages between Panev and Dmitri Khoroshev, alias “LockBitSupp,” the gang’s main administrator. Khoroshev allegedly transferred the equivalent of €220,000 in cryptocurrency to Panev between June 2022 and February 2024.

The developer admitted to receiving payment for his work on several of the gang’s malicious software. In his deposition, he claimed he did not initially realize the tools were being used for criminal purposes but later chose to ignore this fact.

Five other LockBit members, including Dmitri Khoroshev, remain at large and are also under indictment by the U.S. Department of Justice. A reward of up to $10 million (€9.6 million) is being offered for information leading to their capture.