HACKER JAILED FOR $80 MILLION! CLEMENCY SWAP SETS HIM FREE!

SEC v. Vladislav Kliushin — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Litigation Release No. 26318, dated May 30, 2025.

The SEC secured a final judgment against Vladislav Kliushin for his role in an $80 million scheme. Kliushin and others hacked into filing agent systems to steal nonpublic earnings information, which they then used to trade securities for illicit profits. Kliushin was convicted in a parallel criminal case and later released as part of a prisoner exchange.

In Plain English

Imagine someone secretly broke into a company's computer to get their upcoming sales report before anyone else. They then used that secret information to buy or sell stocks, making a lot of money because they knew what was coming. This is what happened here, but on a much bigger scale, involving hacking into systems that handle important company filings.

Disclaimer: all facts are drawn from the SEC's own filings; the claims described are allegations unless and until a court rules or the parties settle, and some cases end in dismissal.

How the Alleged Scheme Worked

1. Hack into Filing Systems Beginning in February 2018, Ivan Yermakov, a hacker, used various techniques including compromised employee credentials, malware, and other hacking methods to break into the computer systems of two U.S.-based filing agent companies. These companies helped public companies file reports with the SEC.
2. Steal Earnings Announcements Yermakov accessed and downloaded material nonpublic information, specifically pre-release earnings announcements from these filing agent systems. This information was about companies whose stock traded on U.S. exchanges and had not yet been made public.
3. Share Hacked Information Yermakov then provided this hacked, deceptively-obtained earnings information, or access to it, to the Trader Defendants, including Vladislav Kliushin. This was done directly or indirectly through the compromised filing agent systems.
4. Trade on Nonpublic Data The Trader Defendants, including Kliushin, used the stolen pre-release earnings announcements to make timely trades in the securities of the filing agent companies' public company clients.
5. Realize Illicit Profits By trading on this material nonpublic information, the Trader Defendants collectively reaped unlawful profits of at least $82.5 million during the period from February 2018 to at least August 2020.
6. Focus on Specific Companies Statistical analysis showed the Trader Defendants' trading was overwhelmingly focused on securities of companies that used the hacked filing agents, making it statistically improbable that their trading was coincidental.

The Enforcement Action

On May 22, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts entered a final judgment against defendant Vladislav Kliushin for his participation in a fraudulent hack-to-trade scheme. The SEC’s complaint alleged that Kliushin and four other defendants engaged in a multi-year scheme to profit by trading on material nonpublic pre-release earnings announcements obtained by hacking into the systems of two U.S.-based filing agent companies. The scheme resulted in at least $82.5 million in illicit profits. In a parallel criminal case, Kliushin was convicted by a jury of securities fraud and other charges. Following his conviction, Kliushin was released from custody as part of a prisoner exchange after his sentence was commuted by the President of the United States. The final judgment provides for permanent injunctive relief and finds Kliushin liable for disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, plus prejudgment interest, which shall be deemed satisfied by payment on the orders of forfeiture and restitution in the parallel criminal case.

Named in this action: Vladislav Kliushin.

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