A suspected participant in the $190 million Nomad bridge hack has been detained in Israel. The U.S. is seeking his extradition.
A Russian-Israeli citizen, Alexander Gurevich, was detained on May 1 at Ben Gurion Airport while trying to fly to Russia. Two days earlier, he had applied for a new passport under the name Alexander Block, changing his details in the population registry. According to The Jerusalem Post, he received the new document on April 29 and was arrested on May 1.
The Nomad Case and U.S. Charges
Gurevich is suspected of stealing $2.89 million in tokens from the Nomad Bridge in August 2022. Due to a vulnerability in the code, the platform lost a total of $190 million after other hackers replicated the original attack.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, shortly after the attack, Gurevich allegedly contacted Nomad’s CTO, James Prestwich, via Telegram under a false name. He claimed he was "looking for a vulnerable project" and even returned $162,000 to an address specified by the company for fund recovery. Later, he demanded $500,000 for finding the security flaw and disappeared.
Extradition and Criminal Charges
The United States has filed eight charges against Gurevich, including money laundering and transfer of stolen property. The criminal case is being handled by the Northern District of California, where the Nomad team is based.
U.S. authorities requested Gurevich’s extradition in December 2024. If found guilty on all charges, he faces up to 20 years in prison — significantly more than he would face under similar charges in Israel.
Investigators believe Gurevich was in Israel at the time of the hack, strengthening the U.S. position in the extradition request.
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