Bulgarian Man Arrested for Hacking Bill Gates Bank and Stealing Thousands
Quezon City Police arrested a Bulgarian national Thursday, for alleged involvement in hacking into the accounts of the world’s richest man, Bill Gates, in an entrapment operation. The Bulgarian man was jailed in Paraguay in earlier 2011 for the alleged hacking into billionaire Bill Gates bank and stealing several thousands of dollars in his name.
31-Year-Old, Konstantin Simeonov Kavrakov, was nabbed outside the PS Bank bank branch Thursday, after offering authorities a $12,000 bribe on the corner of Scout Reyes Street in Barangay Paligsahan, Q.C. Where he was caught trying to withdraw money using counterfeit ATM cards Kavrakov had created in Gates name.
Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) Executive Director, Reginald Villasanta, said the commission coordinated with Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) for the arrest of the Bulgarian national, Konstantin Simeonov Kavrakov.
Following Kavrakov’s arrest, authorities retrieved nine pPS Bank Quezon Avenue ATM branch receipts, and a withdrawn amount of P76,570 in cash. Also found in Kavrakov’s bag were seven assorted banking cards, a cell phone and a bag storing the P76,570 in cash.
Superintendent Milo Pagtalunan, of the CIDG-Anti-Fraud unit, said the recovered cards included Citi Visa, a Standard Chartered Mastercard, Citibank Mastercard, Citi Mastercard, Citibank Visa, and an Eastwest Bank Visa, all under different identities, including one blank card with a magnetic strip.
Kavrakov had allegedly been victimizing Filipino bank clients for several years where his actions were originally reported to the PNP by an informant, one official said. His name also popped up in a targeted operation aimed at nabbing foreigners engaged in cybercrime and illicit online gambling.
Kavrakov was arrested Thursday and charged Friday for violation of the Access Device Regulations Act and for bribing public officials. Authorities were also working on grabbing a search warrant for his known address at the Quezon City hotel.
According to Interpol agents, Kavrakov was a famously known cybercriminals by international authorities who referred to him as the “king of hackers.”
Following Kavrakov’s arrest, billionaire Gates was on a low-profile visit to the country visiting the International Rice Research institute in Laguna on Wednesday.
The PAOCC is currently investigating how Kavrakov managed to secure his release from the prison in Paraguay, the places he traveled and other fraudsters possibly associated with the Bill Gates hacking scheme.
