Over the past year, a high-profile courtroom drama has been attracting international attention on an otherwise quiet corner of London’s Marylebone Road. Behind the limestone façade of Westminster Magistrates’ Court, an Israeli private investigator, accused of orchestrating an illegal hacking conspiracy bankrolled by ExxonMobil, has been battling extradition to the U.S.
Arrested at Heathrow Airport under an Interpol red notice in April 2024, Amit Forlit was allegedly paid $16 million to carry out cyber-attacks, by the prestigious K Street public-affairs and lobbying firm DCI Group on behalf of its longtime client ExxonMobil. His targets: U.S.-based environmentalists and their philanthropic funders.
