Man facing charges linked to computer virus

ATLANTA (AP) -- An Algerian man is set to appear in court on charges he created and marketed a computer program that drained millions of dollars from bank accounts around the world.

U.S. Attorney Sally Yates Friday said a 23-count indictment charges 24-year-old Hamza Bendelladj with wire fraud, bank fraud, computer fraud and conspiracy. He was extradited from Thailand and was to be arraigned Friday afternoon.

Bendelladj is accused of developing and marketing SpyEye. The program is a banking Trojan, which was implanted onto computers to harvest financial information and drain bank accounts. The program impacted 253 financial institutions.

Yates says Bendelladj leased a server from an unidentified Internet company in Atlanta to control computers.

A second person is named in the indictment but has not been identified. It's unclear if Bendelladj has a lawyer.