WASHINGTON – U.S. Secret Service in partnership with the Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) today announced a reward of up to $1 million dollars each for information leading to the arrest and conviction of two wanted international fugitives.
This case marks the first instance for the agency of a monetary award offer in soliciting assistance from the global public. The reward is offered in partnership with INL as part of the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program (TOCRP). Individuals seeking to assist in this U.S. Secret Service-led investigation may email rewards@usss.dhs.gov or contact their local U.S. Secret Service field office directly.
“Partner coordination and cooperation is our most prized resource as criminal investigators,” said U.S. Secret Service Director James M. Murray. “For the first time in agency history, we are able to strategically leverage resources worldwide in the pursuit of a wanted fugitive charged with the exploitation and manipulation of our financial systems. I thank the U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs for this unique support in designating this case eligible for the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program.”
On January 15, 2019, a federal grand jury in the District of New Jersey charged Artem Radchenko and Oleksandr Ieremenko with securities fraud conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, computer fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, and computer fraud in a 16-count indictment.
The indictment alleges that Radchenko and Ieremenko hacked into the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval (EDGAR) system and stole thousands of test versions of annual and quarterly earnings reports containing confidential, non-public, financial information. The defendants and others then profited by selling access to the confidential information in these reports and trading on this stolen information prior to its distribution to the investing public.
Congress established the TOCRP in 2013 as a tool to enhance the ability of the U.S. government to disrupt and dismantle significant transnational criminal organizations. The program gives the Secretary of State statutory authority to offer rewards for information leading to the dismantling of transnational criminal organizations, the arrests and/or convictions of members and leaders who operate primarily outside the United States, and the disruption of the financial mechanisms that sustain these networks.
Learn more about the U.S. Secret Service and its investigative mission.