US Fugitive Chinese Man Hacker Access To COVID Vaccine Arrested In Italy

JAKARTA - Italian police have arrested a 33-year-old Chinese man wanted by US authorities on suspicion of industrial espionage targeting various projects including efforts to develop a COVID vaccine.

The man identified as Xu Zewei of Shanghai, was arrested last week after he arrived at Malpensa airport, Milan, under a US arrest warrant as part of an FBI investigation.

US authorities have accused him of being part of a hacking team trying to access the COVID vaccine being developed by the University of Texas in 2020.

He will face an extradition hearing at Milan on Tuesday, July 8. Enrico Girarda, an Italian lawyer representing the suspect, declined to comment on the case.

The charges listed in the US arrest warrant are network fraud and worsened identity theft, conspiracy to commit fraud over the network, and illegal access to protected computers.