Independent journalist Scott Stedman told a court in New
York that jailed private detective Aviram Azari worked "on surveillance
and cyber-intelligence operations at the behest of Russian oligarchs,"
citing a mix of public reporting and confidential sources.
Stedman said in a declaration that one of the Russian
oligarchs concerned was aluminum tycoon Oleg Deripaska, whom he said indirectly
employed Azari in connection with a business dispute in Austria.
Deripaska's spokeswoman said in an email that the
allegations were "blatantly untrue." A lawyer for Azari, who last
month pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit hacking and aggravated identity
theft in a separate case, did not return messages.
Stedman made his declaration in support of his request to
subpoena Azari for evidence to fight a US libel suit filed against him by
British-Israeli security consultant Walter Soriano in 2020.
In a series of articles for his publication, Forensic News,
Stedman claimed, among other things, that Soriano was a middleman between
wealthy Russians and surveillance firms.
Soriano denied the allegations and sued over the articles,
accusing Stedman of mounting a campaign of defamation, invasion of privacy, and
harassment.
Stedman's lawyer told the New York court that "multiple
confidential sources" told the reporter that Azari "worked closely
with Soriano for years" and thus the jailed private eye's testimony and
documents could "corroborate the truth of Forensic News' reporting."
In an email to Reuters, Soriano's lawyer Shlomo
Rechtschaffen said that Stedman's claims were "false and unfounded"
and that the reporter "has no evidence" that his client and Azari
worked together as alleged.
In a statement to Reuters, Stedman said he had "very
strong reason to believe that Mr. Azari worked with Mr. Soriano on
cyber-related projects for multiple Russian oligarchs and other
billionaires" and that he was subpoenaing Azari as part of an effort
"to defend my journalism and my business."
Azari is currently being held in federal prison in Brooklyn
awaiting sentencing in relation to a hacking campaign tied to the defunct
German financial technology company Wirecard AG, his lawyer said last month.
Reuters reported last year that Azari was accused of hiring
the Indian hacking firm BellTroX on behalf of powerful clients. BellTroX, which
has also been accused of hacking by cybersecurity researchers at Facebook and
elsewhere, could not be reached for comment. © Reuters
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