The prosecutor’s office demanded 18 years in prison for the founder of Group-IB Ilya Sachkov in the case of treason

The prosecutor asked the Moscow City Court to sentence the founder of the Group, Ilya Sachkov, accused of treason, to 18 years in prison, lawyer Sergey Afanasyev told TASS.

According to him, the case was considered “at a sprint pace” – in just 10 days. The verdict will be announced on July 26. The businessman gave his last word, in which he again declared his innocence, added Afanasyev.

Sachkov was arrested in late September 2021 and sent to SIZO “Lefortovo”. According to the FSB, he provided information that was a state secret to foreign intelligence services. Details are unknown as the case materials are classified and the trial is held behind closed doors.

According to Bloomberg, Sachkov is accused of providing US authorities with information about the hacking group Fancy Bear, which is linked to Russian intelligence and is believed to be involved in cyberattacks during the presidential election. US elections in 2016.

The businessman himself claimed that he was the victim of a provocation organized by the former head of the FSB Information Security Center, Sergei Mikhailov, and the current head of the Center, Oleg Kashentsov. Sachkov called Mikhailov an “American spy”, noting that the reason for his arrest was the “false testimony” of a security official.

In 2019, Mikhailov was sentenced to 22 years in prison in a treason case. According to investigators, he passed information about cybercriminals to Western intelligence agencies. Sachkov said so it was he who “draw the attention” of the FSB to Mikhailov’s crimes, and then acted as a witness accusations pending.

In 2016, Sachkov was included in the list of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world under the age of 30 according to Forbes. Group-IB (now FACTT) is one of the leading Russian companies in the field of computer security. Among his clients are Sberbank, VTB, Tinkoff and Alfa-Bank, Rostec State Corporation. The group also advises Russian intelligence services and Interpol.