David thought his legal troubles in the US had been sorted… this picture proves he was desperately wrong
An Australian ‘hacker’ who pleaded guilty to fraud charges earlier this year in America has found himself in the sights of US authorities again.
David Kee Crees, 26, from Collinswood in Adelaide, was arrested by US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents in Denver. HSI is the criminal investigations arm of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
On Thursday a photograph of a handcuffed Crees standing between two federal agents was shared to the controversial immigration agency’s socials with the caption ‘fraudster arrested’.
Crees’s cyber pursuits first unravelled back in 2022 when a South Australian court granted his extradition to Colarado to face a 22-count indictment, though he did not appear in a US federal court until early 2024.
The indictment related to the Aussie hacker – known by the alias DR32 – being sent money in exchange for hacking and theft by undercover HSI officers.
He pleaded guilty in January this year to charges of access a protected computer without authorization for private financial gain and cause damage to a protected computer without authorization, causing loss of at least $5,000.
Those 14 charges involved activities between June 2020 and July 2021 and last month he was sentenced to time served, according to Databreaches.net, a site that publishes information on online security breaches.
But it seems Crees’s troubles have not ended there with ICE on Thursday declaring he’s an illegal alien and would be booted from the country due to his fraud convictions and pending charges for money laundering and ID fraud.
Adelaide man David Kee Crees was arrested this week by US Homeland Security officials
Crees was first extradition to the US in 2022, but he didn’t make his first appearance in federal court until 2024
‘America is NOT a safe haven for international fraudsters. Another one off our streets,’ ICE declared in the caption.
‘HSI Denver special agents arrested David Kee Crees, 26, an Australian national with a rap sheet that includes: Multiple convictions for computer fraud, pending charges for money laundering, pending charges for ID fraud.
‘He will remain in ICE custody pending removal to Australia.’
Homeland Security Denver also released the same picture of a handcuffed Crees on X, formerly known as Twitter.
US’s ICE reposted the image and branded Mr Crees an ‘Australian alien’.
It was previously reported Mr Crees had been released on supervision for one year following his guilty plea.
He had been sentenced to time served and was ordered to forfeit a $245,000 interest in a US property to the US government.
Crees has also been linked to another pseudonym, Abdilo, and is suspected of involvement in several hacking events in Australia, including the breach of hundreds of thousands of Aussie Travel Cover clients in 2015.
There have been no charges laid against Mr Crees in Australia.
In 2023, Mr Crees caused problems for US prison staff while he was being held ahead of his extradition.
According to the Adelaide Advertiser, he had microchips embedded in his hands, which allegedly set off metal detectors in jail.
