Trio Charged in Alleged Bloomberg Extortion Plot

Two Kazakh citizens arrested in London were accused of breaking into Bloomberg News’ computer system in New York and trying to extort money from the financial data and news company, federal officials said.

Oleg Zezov, 27, and Igor Yarimaka, 37, were arrested Thursday and charged with extortion, computer intrusion and other counts, the U.S. attorney’s office in New York announced Monday.

A third person was also charged in a sealed complaint. Elena Gorokhova was accused by federal prosecutors of inquiring about the extortion payment. A warrant has been issued for her arrest.

The two defendants apprehended in London were taken into custody after an undercover sting operation there in which they met with company founder and Chief Executive Michael Bloomberg and demanded $200,000 in exchange for information on how they were able to infiltrate the Bloomberg system in New York, U.S. authorities said.

Bloomberg was accompanied at the meeting by two undercover London police officers, one posing as a company executive and the other serving as a translator, according to federal prosecutors in New York.

Bloomberg officials said they brought the matter to the attention of the FBI and have been cooperating with federal authorities investigating the alleged extortion attempt.

Zezov was employed by a Bloomberg customer, Kazkommerts Securities in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and allegedly began making threats through Internet e-mails and faxes in March, federal prosecutors in New York said.

In his exchanges with Michael Bloomberg, Zezov said his intent was to “help [Bloomberg] understand some drawbacks of your system,” the criminal complaint said.

Yarimaka and Zezov were arrested shortly after meeting with Bloomberg in London. They appeared in court there Friday and are being held without bail.

If convicted, the men could face a maximum of 20 years in prison on the most serious count, plus fines.