US offers $5M reward for Swedish fugitive who sold encrypted phones monitored by FBI

The U.S. State Department is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information that leads to the arrest of a 40-year-old Swedish national who acted as the administrator of an encrypted communication service used by criminal gangs worldwide.

Maximilian Rivkin has been wanted by U.S. authorities since 2021, when the FBI, Europol and other law enforcement agencies arrested hundreds of people accused of administrating, using, and distributing encrypted communication devices using a service known as Anom.

The Anom devices were secretly operated by American and Australian law enforcement agencies — instead of providing secure communication, they helped the authorities to monitor the activity of criminals who used the devices.

More than 12,000 Anom devices were sold to 300 criminal syndicates starting in 2018, including the Italian mafia, Albanian mafia, drug syndicates, and other organized crime groups.

“The users, believing their Anom devices were protected from law enforcement by the shield of impenetrable encryption, openly discussed narcotics concealment methods, shipments of narcotics, money laundering, and in some groups—violent threats,” the indictment said.

Rivkin was one of 17 foreign nationals who U.S. authorities indicted in the alleged distribution of the FBI’s devices.

The messages Rivkin sent on the platform linked him to many illegal activities, including supposed involvement in selling drugs, money laundering, murder conspiracy and kidnapping, according to a statement released by the U.S. Department of State on Wednesday.

U.S. officials said it’s unclear where Rivkin resides, but that he can be identified by scars on his left knee and fingers, as well as a tattoo of three monkeys on his right arm.

Operation Trojan Shield

The distribution of the Anom devices was part of an operation known as Trojan Shield. These encrypted phones were developed by a criminal who cooperated with the FBI in exchange for a reduced sentence.

The Anom devices were designed to look like regular smartphones running on the Android operating system. However, they didn’t have common functionalities like voice calling and internet browsing — their main purpose was to provide a supposedly secure and covert platform for criminals to communicate.

The app was promoted through word of mouth and by undercover agents. Law enforcement agencies controlled Anom’s server infrastructure and were able to intercept and decrypt messages sent by criminals.

This allowed them to gather valuable intelligence on criminal activities, identify key individuals involved, and track their movements.