The U.S. Department of Justice said that a Russian-Canadian man from Ontario is detained by the police and awaiting extradition to the United States for his alleged involvement in a global ransomware campaign.

The administration also stated that Mikhail Vassilev, 33, from Bradford, Ontario, is charged with conspiracy to intentionally destroy protected computers and send ransom demands regarding his alleged role in the global LockBit ransomware program.

The department described LockBit in court documents as a type of ransomware that first appeared in January 2020 and has since become one of the most active and destructive campaigns in the world, having been deployed against at least 1,000 victims in the United States and abroad. It claims that the LockBit company issued at least $100 million in ransom demands and extracted tens of millions of dollars in actual ransom payments from victims. It also said that the FBI began investigating LockBit around March 2020.

Vassilev also faces a maximum prison sentence of five years if convicted.