SEATTLE - Robert Alan Soloway, a 27-year old from Seattle, Wash., was arrested on Wednesday and authorities claim he was one of the world's biggest e-mail spammers.
A grand jury returned a 35-count indictment against Soloway, the
owner of Newport Internet Marketing Corp. He is charged with mail
fraud, wire fraud, e-mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and money
laundering. Soloway pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Four of Soloway's bank accounts were seized by the government and prosecutors are seeking to have him forfeit another US$773,000 -- money, they say, he made from his business.
"He's a huge problem for our customers," Tim Cranton, a Microsoft Corp. lawyer who is senior director of the company's Worldwide Internet Safety Programs told the Associated Press. "This is a very good day."
Microsoft won a US$7 million civil judgment against him in 2005 and another company won a $10 million suit against him.
Soloway allegedly used a network of computers that were infected with malicious software that would instruct them to send out e-mails. These computers are known as 'zombie' computers and their owners are often unaware of what is going on.
The e-mails he would send out would advertise his company and claim that for only US$495, he could send out as many as 20 million e-mail ads.
Some companies claimed to have been spending thousands of dollars a week fighting the spam while other claimed his scheme ruined their reputation. They say consumers thought, inaccurately, that they were generating the spam mail.
This case is expected to set a precedent. There are few people that have been convicted or even charged with Internet fraud and this is the first case in the U.S. where an individual has been charged with identity theft for illegally using someone else's computer or domain name.
Soloway could face several decades in jail. He remains in federal custody pending a Monday hearing.
With files from The Associated Press
