Overview
- Xu Zewei was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa Airport on July 3 at the request of U.S. authorities and is held in Busto Arsizio prison as a U.S. warrant seeks his transfer.
- A hearing at Milan’s Court of Appeals is set to determine whether to approve the U.S. extradition request.
- A nine-count indictment unsealed on July 8 in the Southern District of Texas charges Xu and co-defendant Zhang Yu with computer intrusions between February 2020 and June 2021, including the HAFNIUM campaign.
- U.S. court filings allege Xu worked under direction from China’s Ministry of State Security to steal COVID-19 vaccine research and later exploited Microsoft Exchange Server vulnerabilities.
- Defense lawyer Enrico Giarda contends Xu’s common surname led to a case of mistaken identity and suggests his account may have been compromised by another actor.