THE FIRM:

Futerfas previously represented a Russian national named Nikita Kuzmin, who created a malware program called the Gozi virus, which infected nearly 40,000 U.S. computers, including computers at NASA. Over one million computers were compromised worldwide.

Preet Bharara's supporters may be criticizing his firing as a federal prosecutor, which the Trump White House characterizes as a routine renewal of ranks among U.S. attorneys under a new president. But it is unlikely that any tears are being shed in Moscow.

The former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, appointed in 2009, led numerous high-profile prosecutions that rippled through the corridors of power in the Russian capital -- and eventually he found himself blacklisted by Moscow. [...]

[B]harara was included in a 2013 Russian sanctions list issued in response to the U.S. Magnitsky Act blacklisting alleged Russian rights abusers. In its announcement of the blacklist, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused Bharara of violating "the rights and freedoms off Russian citizens abroad."

Bharara's office prosecuted numerous cases against Russian hackers and other cybercriminals during his tenure, including several that outraged Moscow. The cases targeted Russians accused of large-scale theft involving compromised credit cards and bank accounts. One of these suspects successfully prosecuted by Bharara's office was Nikita Kuzmin, the son of Russian rock star Vladimir Kuzmin, whose website boasts that American Adult Contemporary icon Michael Bolton once praised him as a "super-talented musician."

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