Dutch extradite Russian hacking suspect to face US charges

The Netherlands has extradited a Russian suspected of involvement in a huge data breach that racked up hundreds of millions of dollars in losses over seven years for U.S. companies.

Dutch Justice Ministry spokeswoman Sentina van der Meer says Vladimir Drinkman was flown out of the Netherlands on Friday, two weeks after a court rejected his final bid to prevent the extradition.

Drinkman is one of four Russians and a Ukrainian charged in New Jersey with a sophisticated hack that netted at least 160 million credit and debit card numbers.

Drinkman was arrested in the Netherlands in June 2012 and had been fighting extradition ever since.

U.S. attorneys have called the case the largest hacking and data breach ever prosecuted in the United States.

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