Man suspected of being notorious hacker Guccifer arrested in Romania
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Jan. 22, 2014: Marcel Lazar Lehel, 40, is escorted by masked policemen in Bucharest, after being arrested in Arad, 337 miles west of Bucharest. Lehel is allegedly the hacker using the nicknames "Guccifer" and "The Small Fume" and is suspected to have broken into several e-mail accounts of various politicians and celebrities and the head of Romania's Intelligence Service George Maior. (REUTERS/Mediafax/Silviu Matei)
A man believed to be Guccifer, the hacker who reportedly broke into the cellphones of George Bush and Colin Powell, was arrested Wednesday in Romania, Reuters reported.
The hacker is best known for intercepting private photos and emails sent between members of the Bush family in Feb. 2013, releasing the former president's conversations and artwork, as well as self-portraits in the shower and bathtub.
A press release put out by the Romanian police said the man, identified only as LML, was picked up in Arad, west of Bucharest, on charges of attempted theft of confidential data in emails. The arrest followed a raid by a police crime division, in conjunction with authorities in the U.S., the press release noted.
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Radio Romania, a public radio station in the country, identified the suspect as Marcel Lazar Lehel, Reuters reported. But Romanian police told FoxNews.com on Thursday they could not confirm the identity of the suspect.
“In accordance with the laws of Romania, we can not provide personal information regarding any person,” a police spokesman wrote in an email. “The investigations in this case are carried out under the coordination of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism.”
A Romanian prosecutor who did not want to be identified told Reuters the suspect is the hacker who has gone by the nicknames "Guccifer" and "The Small Fume."
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The U.S. Secret Service declined to comment on its involvement in the case, and the FBI did not return repeated requests for comment.
The hacker has reportedly intercepted and released emails from a wide array of politicians and entertainment figures, including Tina Brow and “Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes. He also reportedly hacked into the e-mail account of Romania's Intelligence Service George Maior.