Nikita Andreevich Sklyuev
Convicted by guilty plea; sentencing pending. Sklyuev, also known as Valeriy Dorojkin, pleaded guilty to wire fraud for a fake cryptocurrency wallet app that stole a victim’s private key and roughly $11.8 million in EOS tokens; he faces up to 20 years in prison at sentencing in March 2027.
Introduction
Nikita Andreevich Sklyuev, also known by the alias Valeriy Dorojkin, 39, of Uzbekistan, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara to wire fraud, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine . U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced the plea on October 19, 2026, in a case that stripped a Western New York man’s cryptocurrency wallet of approximately 2,092,395.5356 EOS tokens, valued at the time at roughly $11.8 million . Sentencing is scheduled for March 16, 2027, before Judge Arcara .
Background Information
The scheme began in June 2018, when Sklyuev submitted a computer software application called “EOSIO Wallet Explorer” to Apple to be sold through the App Store . The app purported to be a cryptocurrency wallet but was in fact malicious, designed to steal the user’s private key and thereby give Sklyuev access to the user’s cryptocurrency funds . In September 2018, an individual in the Western District of New York purchased the EOSIO Wallet Explorer application and installed it on his iPhone; once the victim entered his private key following installation, Sklyuev had unauthorized access to a wallet containing approximately 2,092,395 EOS, worth about $11.8 million at the time .
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
The theft unfolded in two moves that are now part of a public federal record. On September 25, 2018, Sklyuev changed the private key to the victim’s wallet, which resulted in the victim losing all control and access to the funds inside it . By February 2019, he had transferred the EOS cryptocurrency out of the victim’s wallet and into numerous other online wallets under his own control . The instrument of the fraud was software marketed for safekeeping: an application listed for sale on Apple’s App Store as a wallet tool, built so that the act of securing a wallet actually surrendered it .
Public Reaction and Consequences
The plea resulted from an investigation by the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Allen D. Davis, II, and the U.S. Marshals Service, under the direction of Marshal Charles Salina . By pleading guilty, Sklyuev converted the accusation into a conviction on the federal record, under a name and an alias both now tied to the same fraud . The release contains no statement from Sklyuev or a defense attorney, and no public comment from Apple, whose store had distributed the malicious wallet .
Current Status
Sklyuev is awaiting sentencing, scheduled for March 16, 2027, at 10:30 a.m. before Judge Arcara . The wire fraud conviction carries the 20-year maximum and $250,000 fine exposure described in the release, and the plea itself is the case’s only public resolution so far . The release does not state where Sklyuev was apprehended, whether restitution or forfeiture will be pursued, or the terms of his custody pending sentencing .
Impact on Their Career/Life
Whatever Sklyuev’s life looked like before, his name — and the alias Valeriy Dorojkin — is now attached to a published federal wire fraud conviction for an $11.8 million cryptocurrency theft. The EOSIO Wallet Explorer case stands as a recorded example of mobile-app distribution turned against its own users: a wallet app whose purpose was the emptying of wallets. The March 2027 sentencing will fix the final number on the record, but the conviction itself already defines the name in any search that matters.
Sources
- U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of New York, “Uzbekistan man pleads guilty to his role in cryptocurrency scheme,” October 19, 2026 — source