In brief
An English court has granted permission for the extradition of Amit Forlit, a 57-year-old Israeli man accused by New York prosecutors of orchestrating a "hacking-for-hire" scheme that targeted various environmental groups. Prosecutors allege Forlit’s companies amassed approximately $16 million by illegally infiltrating over 100 victims to obtain confidential information for an unnamed lobbying firm affiliated with ExxonMobil.
In court filings from January, the company was specifically named as ExxonMobil, which has faced multiple lawsuits from Democratic attorneys and local officials for allegedly concealing information about climate change to maintain its oil sales. The lobbying firm reportedly linked to these activities is DCI Group. ExxonMobil issued a statement disavowing any knowledge of or involvement in the hacking efforts. The company condemned any illegal activities related to hacking and emphasized their lack of awareness. Meanwhile, DCI Group’s spokesperson, Craig Stevens, highlighted that the firm instructs all personnel to adhere strictly to legal compliance and asserted that there was no direction or involvement from DCI in the alleged hacking incident from ten years ago. DCI further critiqued environmental activists, suggesting that claims of involvement were conspiracy theories propagated by those with ties to the fossil fuel industry.
