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Lithuanian Charged in $100M Fraud Case Brought to US


FILE - Suspected Lithuanian hacker Evaldas Rimasauskas is seen before a court session in Vilnius, Lithuania, May 18, 2017.
FILE - Suspected Lithuanian hacker Evaldas Rimasauskas is seen before a court session in Vilnius, Lithuania, May 18, 2017.

A Lithuanian man has been extradited to the United States to face charges that he duped Google and Facebook into sending him over $100 million.

Evaldas Rimasauskas, 48, pleaded not guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. He arrived in New York Wednesday night.

Rimasauskas, of Vilnius, was charged with wire fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft.

The companies were identified in a Lithuanian court document, which said Google sent over $23 million and Facebook sent nearly $100 million to bank accounts controlled by Rimasauskas.

Google, of Mountain View, California, said in a statement that it detected the fraud, alerted authorities and has recouped its money. Facebook, of Menlo Park, California, declined to comment.

A lawyer for Rimasauskas promised a "good defense.''

If convicted, he could face over 60 years in prison.

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