Latvian man pleads not guilty over Gozi computer virus scheme

Deniss Calovskis, 29, entered the plea in federal court in Manhattan a day after being extradited from Latvia to face charges that he wrote some of the computer code that made the so-called Gozi virus so effective. An indictment against Calovskis was unsealed in January 2013 when prosecutors announced separate charges against Nikita Kuzmin, a Russian whom they say created the virus, and Mihai Ionut Paunescu, a Romanian who allegedly ran a service that enabled its distribution. Prosecutors say Calovskis, who resided in Riga, Latvia, was hired to develop a computer code that altered how banks’ websites appeared in order to trick victims into divulging personal information.

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