An indictment charging Aleksandr Derebenetc and Kirill Shipulin with two counts of conspiracy to commit computer intrusions was unsealed in October. The indictment charges that the two men hacked the electronic taxi dispatch system at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), which is meant to ensure that taxis are dispatched in the order in which they arrive.
According to the indictment, Derebenetc and Shipulin conspired with Daniel Abayev and Peter Leyman to hack the Dispatch System and move certain taxis to the front of the line in exchange for payment. Abayev pled guilty in October to one count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, and Leyman pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusions on October 4. From at least September 2019 through September 2021, Derebenetc and Shipulin, who are Russian nationals residing in Russia, and Abayev and Leyman, who are U.S. citizens residing in Queens, NY, engaged in a scheme to hack the Dispatch System at JFK. Beginning in 2019, the four men explored and attempted various mechanisms to access the Dispatch System, including bribing someone to insert a flash drive containing malware into connected computers, obtaining unauthorized access and stealing computer tablets connected to the Dispatch System. The members of the Hacking Scheme also sent messages to each other in which they explicitly discussed their intentions.
At various times between November 2019 and November 2020, Derebenetc, Shipulin, Abayev, and Leyman successfully hacked the Dispatch System – using their unauthorized access to move specific taxis to the front of the line. Abayev and Leyman charged drivers $10 each time they were advanced to the front of the line and transferred part of their profits to Shipulin and Derebenetc. Over the course of the scheme, they enabled as many as 1,000 fraudulently expedited taxi trips a day.
Derebenetc, 30, of Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia, and Shipulin, 30, of Moscow, Russia, are each charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Abayev, 47, and Leyman, 49, both of Queens, NY, each pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
