No special treatment for Israeli official accused of sex crime in Las Vegas: Prosecutor
Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, a top cybersecurity official with the Israeli government, was one of eight people arrested as part of a multi-week operation by Nevada and federal authorities targeting 'child sex predators,' according to an August 15 statement from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson, whose office has jurisdiction over Las Vegas and Henderson, called the situation 'standard' in comments to the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Tuesday.
Reuters was unable to reach Wolfson or a representative of his office. But during his interview with the newspaper he said that the 'standard bail for this charge was $10,000, so anybody, upon being booked on that case, can post that bail and get released with no conditions, and that's what happened in this case.'
Wolfson's comments come amid a flurry of speculation that either the US or Israeli governments intervened to facilitate Alexandrovich's departure from the US after being arrested on August 6.
Alexandrovich has not yet been formally charged with a crime, but faces a potential felony charge of luring a child with a computer for sex, according to the August 15 police statement.
Alexandrovich, 38, posted a $10,000 surety bond the day after his arrest and prior to seeing a judge, according to a court docket. He returned to Israel two days later, according to Israeli media, who have identified him as the head of a division in Israel's National Cyber Directorate.
Alexandrovich's attorney, David Z. Chesnoff, told Reuters on Tuesday by telephone, 'There's absolutely no truth to any suggestion he received special treatment. Neither federal or state prosecutors have done anything untoward in this matter.'
Chesnoff did not address whether Alexandrovich would appear at an August 27 hearing scheduled for the case.
In a statement provided after the phone call, Chesnoff said he and his partner, Richard A. Schonfeld, would defend their client 'within the justice system, not in the media,' and people 'should not rush to judgment,' and that Alexandrovich's 'release was consistent with normal procedures and bail was posted.'
The US State Department said on Monday it played no role in Alexandrovich's release and departure from the US The FBI, which participated in the law enforcement operation, declined to comment on Tuesday.
Under Nevada law, Alexandrovich was able to post bond and be released prior to seeing any judge, and no restrictions were placed on his release, according to a report from 8 News Now in Las Vegas.
At least four of the eight arrestees posted bail right away and were released without conditions, Wolfson said, according to the Review-Journal.
Alexandrovich was in Vegas for the Black Hat cybersecurity conference, according to an arrest report quoted by local media.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
Iraqi Kurd court extends detention of opposition leader
SULAIMANIYAH: A court in Iraqi Kurdistan on Thursday extended the detention of opposition leader Shaswar Abdulwahid following his arrest last week, his party said. Abdulwahid — who heads the New Generation party, which holds 15 of the 100 seats in the autonomous northern region's parliament — was taken into custody on August 12. His detention stemmed from a six-month prison sentence handed down in absentia after he repeatedly failed to attend hearings in a defamation case filed by a former MP, a judicial official said. The opposition leader appeared before a judge on Thursday in a hearing attended by dozens of supporters, lawmaker Omed Mohammed of the New Generation party told AFP. Abdulwahid's lawyer had sought his release on bail, a request the judge denied. Court spokesman Salah Hassan said the refusal was due to Abdulwahid's failure to appear for hearings and questioning. 'This does not give the judge sufficient guarantees for a bail release... which could disrupt future proceedings,' he told AFP. Abdulwahid has been arrested several times since he launched the party in 2017. He was also wounded in an assassination attempt. The region's ruling alliance of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan has been criticized by human rights groups for its intolerance of dissent and for resorting to arbitrary arrests. Abdulwahid's trial was adjourned until August 28.
Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
18 arrested in second day of staff-led protests at Microsoft HQ
WASHINGTON: Police arrested 18 people on Wednesday during the second day of pro-Palestinian protests led by current and former Microsoft employees at the tech giant's headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The arrests came a day after officers dismantled an encampment set up by the worker-led campaign group 'No Azure for Apartheid,' which is demanding Microsoft end its ties with the Israeli military amid reports that the company's technology has been used to facilitate mass surveillance of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, and assist in selecting bombing targets during the war on Gaza. Redmond police said they arrested 18 demonstators who 'resisted and became aggressive' as officers tried to disperse the protests at Microsoft's campus. 'A few protesters had poured paint over the Microsoft sign and on the ground. Others had blocked a pedestrian bridge and were using stolen tables and chairs from vendors to form a barrier,' Redmond police department said in a post on X. 18 arrested for various charges during a protest at Microsoft Campus Redmond police are at the scene of a demonstration at the Microsoft campus. On Aug 20, around 12:15 p.m., Redmond officers were dispatched to a large gathering of protestors in the Microsoft courtyard.… — RedmondWaPD (@RedmondWaPD) August 20, 2025 In a statement to Arab News, Microsoft accused the returning protesters of 'vandalism and property damage,' a day after 35 demonstrators had cleared the site following police orders that such activities were not permitted on private property. 'They also disrupted, harassed, and took tables and tents from local small businesses at a lunchtime farmer's market for employees. Local police officers made multiple arrests,' a Microsoft spokesperson told Arab News. Demonstrators were arrested on multiple charges, including 'trespassing, malicious mischief, resisting arrest, and obstruction,' as investigations are underway, the police department said, adding that no injuries were reported at the scene. Organizers of the 'No Azure for Apartheid' group told Arab News that those arrested included current and former Microsoft workers as well as Seattle community members. They said protesters returned for the second day in a row 'to escalate and force an end to the genocide powered by Microsoft technology.' 'Instead of listening to the (group's) demands and ending its role in the daily massacre of Palestinians, Microsoft chose to militarize its campus,' the group said in a statement to Arab News. They accused the tech giant of enabling Israel's military campaign and starvation in Gaza, as well as assisting the displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank. The group noted that the demonstrations aimed to 'demand Microsoft stop exploiting our labor to build technology that murders Palestinians.' Microsoft has reiterated its pledge to conduct 'a thorough and independent review of new allegations' raised earlier this month in a Guardian media investigation, which reported that Israel used the tech giant's Azure cloud services to record millions of daily phone calls made by Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. 'Microsoft will continue to do the hard work needed to uphold its human rights standards in the Middle East, while supporting and taking clear steps to address unlawful actions that damage property, disrupt business or that threaten and harm others,' the company's spokesperson told Arab News. On Friday, the tech giant said that it hired law firm Covington & Burling LLP to conduct the review on Israel's commercial agreements with Microsoft and will make the findings public once the review is complete.
Al Arabiya
5 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Iran's freeze on nuclear inspections prompts US-UN crisis talks: Report
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) officials will travel to Washington next week to confer with the US amid concerns about their inability to account for Iran's stockpile of near-weapons-grade uranium, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. The trip has been planned after IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi's top inspector failed to win Iranian approval to resume monitoring in Iran, the report added, citing diplomats with knowledge of the situation.
