A reporter stated in a court document that an Israeli private investigator currently in US detention utilized Indian hackers to perform surveillance operations for ultra-wealthy Russians.

Scott Stedman, an independent journalist, told a court in New York on Wednesday evening that incarcerated private investigator Aviram Azari conducted "on surveillance and cyber-intelligence operations at the behest of Russian oligarchs," using a combination of public information and confidential sources.

Stedman stated in a declaration that one of the Russian oligarchs involved was the aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska, who indirectly employed Azari in connection with an Austrian commercial dispute.

The spokesperson for Deripaska stated in an email that the claims were "blatantly untrue." Azari pled guilty last month to conspiracy to commit hacking and aggravated identity theft in a separate case. His attorney did not respond to messages.

Stedman delivered his declaration to support his desire to subpoena Azari for evidence to defend himself against a 2020 libel lawsuit launched against him in the United Kingdom by British-Israeli security specialist Walter Soriano.

In a series of stories for his site, Forensic News, Stedman asserted, among other things, that Soriano acted as a go-between between wealthy Russians and monitoring corporations.

Soriano rejected the charges and filed a lawsuit against Stedman over the stories, accusing him of defamation, invasion of privacy, and harassment.

Employing an Indian hacking firm

Stedman's attorney claimed to the New York court that "multiple confidential sources" told the reporter that Azari "worked closely with Soriano for years" and therefore, Azari's testimony and papers may "corroborate the truth of Forensic News' reporting."

In an email to Reuters, Shlomo Rechtschaffen, Soriano's attorney, stated that Stedman's allegations were "false and unfounded" and that the reporter "has no evidence" that Soriano and Azari collaborated as suggested.

In a statement to Reuters, Stedman stated that he had "very strong reason to believe that Mr. Azari worked with Mr. Soriano on cyber-related projects for multiple Russian oligarchs and other billionaires" and that he was subpoenaing Azari "to defend my journalism and my business."

Last month, his attorney stated that Azari is currently being imprisoned in federal prison in Brooklyn for sentencing in connection with a hacking campaign against the collapsed German financial technology business Wirecard AG.

According to Reuters, Azari was suspected of employing the Indian hacking outfit BellTroX on behalf of influential clients last year. BellTroX could not be reached for comment despite being accused of hacking by cybersecurity researchers at Facebook and elsewhere.