Spain’s national court has agreed to the extradition to the United States of a British citizen who allegedly took part in cyber attacks, including the July 2020 hacking of the Twitter accounts of public figures such as Joseph Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Gates.
A court filing on Friday said it met requirements for the surrender of Joseph James O’Connor to US authorities on 14 counts involving crimes including disclosure of secrets, membership of a criminal gang, illegal access to computer systems, Internet fraud, money laundering and extortion.
O’Connor, 23, of Liverpool, England, was arrested in the coastal city of Estepona in southern Spain in July 2021.
SPANISH PARLIAMENT APPROVES LEGISLATION EXPANDING ADOLESCENT ABORTION RIGHTS, GIVING WORKERS RIGHT TO MENSTRUAL LEAVE
Spain orders extradition to US of alleged British hacker who took part in July 2020 hacking of Twitter accounts of Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Gates (Fox News)
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He is accused of hacking around 130 Twitter accounts. The court document states that he is also wanted for hacking into the Snapchat account of an unidentified public figure whom he allegedly attempted to extort by threatening to post nude photographs of the person.
He is also wanted for several cases of “swatting”, prank calls to the emergency services aimed at sending large numbers of police officers to different locations.
The court rejected O’Connor’s lawyers’ arguments that he should have been tried in Spain since the servers he used were located there.
The statement said he is wanted by courts in the Northern District of California and the Southern District of New York. The extradition order can be appealed.
