Published on : 29/07/2022 – 22:42
Rebates (AFP) – A 21-year-old Frenchman, wanted by the United States for his alleged involvement in a cybercrime case once morest American companies in particular, was arrested and imprisoned in Morocco, Moroccan police told AFP on Friday, confirming information from The Obs.
Sébastien Raoult was arrested on May 31 at Rabat-Salé airport while he was the subject of a red notice issued by Interpol at the request of American justice, in the context of a case of cyberpiracy, added the police source, without further details.
According to Moroccan media, quoting a police source, this arrest was “the result of cooperation between the Moroccan General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) and the FBI”.
The young man had abandoned his computer training last December before leaving for a three-month vacation in Morocco, according to the story of his father, Paul Raoult.
“I am convinced that my son is innocent, and that he is being used as a bargaining chip. Someone has probably usurped his identity. Things are not clear in this story, it is a politico-scandal. judiciary,” he told AFP, adding that “the United States believes that its laws should apply worldwide.”
“He only stayed in France and Morocco. If there was piracy, it was from France. The natural judge is the French judge,” his lawyer Philippe Ohayon told AFP. who asks that his client be extradited to France and not to the United States.
He sent letters to this effect to the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron, to the French Minister of Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti and to the parquet floor of Epinal in the Vosges, where his client is domiciled.
The prosecutor of this city, Frédéric Nahon confirmed to AFP that he had received this letter and that it was “being processed” by the services.
“We feel a form of American judicial imperialism,” added Me Ohayon.
Asked by AFP, the Moroccan prosecutor’s office did not respond.
The young man has been imprisoned since June 2 in Tiflet 2 prison, near Rabat.
According to L’Obs, the FBI suspects him of belonging to a group of hackers – the “ShinyHunters”, a reference to the world of Pokémon – accused of being “prolific cybercriminals” by the American authorities.
The latter are demanding the extradition of Mr. Raoult for acts of “conspiracy to commit electronic fraud and abuse”, “electronic fraud” and “serious identity theft”, still according to L’Obs.
Among the companies that this group would have targeted is notably Microsoft.
Mr. Raoult would risk a sentence of 116 years in prison in the United States for the acts attributed to him.
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