Vitaly Nikolayevich Kovalev

In February 2012, a federal grand jury in the District of New Jersey returned an indictment charging Vitaly Nikolayevich Kovalev with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and eight counts of bank fraud in connection with a series of intrusions into victim bank accounts held at various U.S.-based financial institutions that occurred in 2009 and 2010.As alleged in the indictment, Kovalev and his co-conspirators were able to gain unauthorized access to accounts held at least three different U.S-based financial institutions. Once they gained access to the accounts, Kovalev and others made unauthorized transfers of funds into other bank accounts established by, and at the direction of, Kovalev solely for the purpose of receiving the stolen funds. The funds would then be withdrawn or transferred out of these accounts at the direction of Kovalev. In total, Kovalev and his co-conspirators were able to transfer without authorization nearly $1 million from the victim bank accounts.The prosecution is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey. In addition to the criminal charges, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued sanctions against Kovalev in relation to his position as a senior figure within the Trickbot trojan virus organization.The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.If you have information regarding this individual, please contact the U.S. Secret Service via email at MostWanted@usss.dhs.gov or via Signal at USSSMostWanted.1865.

The ‘Bentley’ alias is for historical use of the moniker. The Director Disqualification Sanction was imposed on 09/04/2025.

(also Vitaliy KOVALEV, Vitaliy KOVALEV)

(also Vitaly Nikolayevich KOVALEV)

Relevant links: /newsroom/releases/2023/02/russian-national-charged-bank-fraud-related-hacking-campaign, https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/russian-national-charged-bank-fraud-related-hacking-campaign, https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1256

Entités associées: TrickBot, Wizard Spider, Conti

Vitaly Kovalev is a senior figure in the malware programs “Trickbot” and “Conti”. He is also known by the online monikers “Bentley”, “Bergen”, “Alex Konor”, “Benny”, “Ben” and “Stern”. Conti and Trickbot were originally created and developed by Wizard Spider. Wizard Spider has conducted ransomware campaigns in a variety of sectors, including essential services such as health and banking, has infected computers worldwide and their malware has been developed into a highly modular malware suite. Campaigns by Wizard Spider, using malware such as Conti, and TrickBot, are responsible for substantial economic damage in the European Union. Vitaly Kovalev is therefore responsible for, and involved in, cyber-attacks with a significant effect which constitute an external threat to the Union or its Member States.

Senior member of Trickbot Group

(UE) 2026/1714 du 13/07/2026 (UE Cyberattaques - R (UE) 2019/796) (FondementJuridique: 4189)

Entités associées : TrickBot, Wizard Spider, Conti - Vitaly Kovalev est un personnage de premier plan dans les programmes malveillants “Trickbot” et “Conti”. Il est également connu par ses surnoms en ligne “Bentley”, “Bergen”, “Alex Konor”, “Benny”, “Ben” et “Stern”. À l'origine, Conti et TrickBot ont été créés et développés par Wizard Spider. Wizard Spider a mené des attaques par rançongiciel dans divers secteurs, y compris des services essentiels tels que la santé et le secteur bancaire, a infecté des ordinateurs dans le monde entier et son logiciel malveillant a été développé en une série de logiciels malveillants hautement modulaires. Les attaques menées par Wizard Spider, en utilisant des logiciels malveillants tels que Conti et TrickBot, sont responsables de préjudices économiques substantiels dans l'Union européenne. Par conséquent, Vitaly Kovalev est responsable de cyberattaques ayant des effets importants et constituant une menace extérieure pour l'Union ou pour ses États membres, et y participe.