Alleged Shadowcrew member extradited to U.S. 9 years after cybercrime forum takedown

A 30-year-old Bulgarian was extradited to the U.S. from Paraguay in order to face charges related to his alleged involvement in Shadowcrew, a large cybercrime forum that was dismantled by U.S. authorities in 2004.

Aleksi Kolarov is charged with one count each of conspiracy, transferring false identification documents and offering access devices without authorization.

He is one of 19 indicted for their roles in the operation of Shadowcrew, which with around 4,000 members was the largest cybercrime forum of its time. Three of those charged remain at large.

According to the indictment, Kolarov used the online alias APK and was a Shadowcrew "vendor"—a member that sold illicit merchandise including stolen credit card, debit card and bank account information, as well as counterfeit passports, drivers' licenses, birth certificates, Social Security cards and other identification documents.

Kolarov was arrested on June 14, 2011, in a hotel in Asunción, Paraguay and had in his possession hundreds of thousands of dollars in various currencies, counterfeit payment cards and electronic devices for re-encoding cards.

After being incarcerated in Paraguay, he was extradited to the U.S., where he arrived Friday escorted by U.S. Marshals. On Monday he appeared in front of a judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

If convicted, Kolarov faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the conspiracy count, 15 years in prison on the identification documents count and 10 years in prison on the access device count. He could also receive a maximum $250,000 fine on each count.

U.S. authorities estimate that Shadowcrew members collectively trafficked and misused over 1.5 million stolen credit card details, resulting in losses of over $4 million to credit card companies, financial institutions and card holders.

Albert Gonzalez, the American hacker who's currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for masterminding the theft of millions of credit card details from TJ Maxx, Heartland Payment Systems and other companies, is believed to have played an important role in the Shadowcrew takedown.

Gonzalez was a high-ranking member of Shadowcrew, where he used the alias CumbaJohnny, but at the same time he served as an informant for the U.S. Secret Service.

Disney Premieres Dubbed 'Lone Ranger' in Italy Amid Alleged Piracy Fears

TAORMINA, Sicily – The international launch of Gore Verbinski’s The Lone Ranger at the Taormina Film Festival has been switched to the Italian-language version of the film due to what festival officials said were piracy concerns.

Officials said they were surprised to find the copy of the film Disney supplied was dubbed into Italian with no subtitles. They said they had been promised an original language copy of the film, with Italian subtitles. Until Saturday afternoon, the festival had advertised the film would screen in the original language, requiring them to make hasty additions to posters (see photo).

STORY: Summer Movies: When Studio Loyalty to Talent Backfires

In Los Angeles, Disney denied there were ever plans to provide an original version copy of the film to the festival: "This was always planned as a dubbed screening given the release date around the world, and subtitles were never considered for the festival," a spokesman said.

But it is extremely unusual for a major film festival to screen a dubbed version of the film. Festival observers said it is the first time in recent memory a dubbed film will be shown at the 59-year-old Taormina festival.

Though it is not billed as such, the Taormina screening of The Lone Ranger is technically its world premiere since -- due to the nine-hour time difference between Sicily and California -- the film is screening in Italy several hours before its official world premiere at Disney’s California Adventure Park in Anaheim.

The film will be released in the U.S., Italy, and a handful of other territories July 3.

The Lone Ranger is the closing film of the event, which has become a regular launching pad for summer tentpoles, including Disney’s Brave last year, and Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, which opened this year’s edition of the festival a week ago with Snyder and most of the film's stars on hand for the event. The Superman reboot, like all the previous blockbuster releases in Taormina, premiered in English at the festival.

Though illegal recording and sharing of film and TV shows is a huge problem throughout Europe, there have been no known piracy issues with big Taormina premieres in the past. Security was especially tight at the Man of Steel screening, the film’s continental Europe premiere, and it appeared tight again for the screening of The Lone Ranger.

With all of the stars in Los Angeles for the official world premiere there, there was no one from the cast on hand in Taormina for Saturday's screening. The film was introduced by Disney-Italia exec Daniel Frigo, who made no mention of the controversy around the dubbed version of the film.

Festival officials said they were forced to refund the ticket price to dozens of non-Italian-speaking tourists who bought their tickets expecting to see the original version of the film. But it is also likely that the dubbed version attracted more locals in a country where most foreign films are dubbed.

In the end, the festival’s signature Teatro Antico venue, which seats 4,500, was nearly full for the screening, the second near capacity screening of the eight-day event, following the Man of Steel premiere. The two crowds were among the largest the festival has seen. Italian-speaking moviegoers in the Teatro Grande said they were not put off by the decision to screen the dubbed film.

STORY: 'Lone Ranger' Filmmakers on Making a Western That Works 

The screening was preceded by a tribute to 51-year-old Sopranos star James Gandolfini, who had been scheduled to appear at the festival but who died of a heart attack in Rome the night before traveling to Sicily.

Italian-American actress Marisa Tomei -- who drew applause when she noted she had distant relatives from nearby Messina -- and Italy's Gigi Proietti were both honored before the screening. Pursuit of Happyness director Gabriele Muccino was expected to be on hand as well, but he cancelled at the last minute.

Mario Sesti, Taormina’s second-year artistic director, declined to comment about the developments related to the dubbed version of The Lone Ranger when contacted. Sesti, one of the founders of the International Rome Film Festival, is working to revitalize the storied Taormina event little more than a year after it was nearly forced to shut down for budgetary reasons.

In addition to The Lone Ranger, Man of Steel, and Brave, tent pole films to have launched in Taormina the last half-dozen years include Kung Fu Panda II, Toy Story 3D, and Transformers.