The chief executive of Group-IB has been arrested by law enforcement on suspicion of state treason.
Ilya Sachkov, a co-founder of the prominent Russian cybersecurity company, was arrested on Tuesday at Group-IB’s Moscow office.
The company has confirmed the incident, adding that local law enforcement conducted a search of the property on the same day. At the time, Group-IB — with headquarters in Singapore — said that the “reason for the search was not yet clear.”
State news agency TASS cited an unnamed source in the country’s security forces when reporting that Sachkov’s arrest is based on suspicion of treason, specifically the transfer of classified information to foreign agencies which allegedly “employed” the executive.
However, the agency says he has not “admit[ted] guilt in transferring intelligence data to foreign special services.”
The case against the cybersecurity executive is confidential, and so there are no further details available concerning the allegations.
A court order will keep the 35-year-old in custody for two months.
Sachkov was picked for the 2016 edition of the Forbes Under-30 entrepreneur list and has previously met Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin.
Group-IB maintains the innocence of its executive, as well as his “business integrity.”
“Group-IB’s communications team refrains from commenting on the charges brought and the circumstances of the criminal case due to the ongoing procedural activities,” the firm added.
In the meantime, lawyers for the firm are on the case, and Group-IB co-founder Dmitry Volkov will assume leadership, at least, for now.
The cybersecurity company says that all of Group-IB’s divisions will continue to operate as normal.
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