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Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Arrests Mark Significant Takedown Within Violent Online Network

WASHINGTON – Leonidas Varagiannis, also known as “War,” 21, a citizen of the United States residing in Thessaloniki, Greece, and Prasan Nepal, also known as “Trippy,” 20, of North Carolina, were arrested and charged for operating an international child exploitation enterprise known as “764,” a nihilistic violent extremist (NVE) network. Varagiannis was arrested yesterday in Greece; Nepal was arrested on April 22, 2025, in North Carolina and had a court appearance. Court hearings in Washington, D.C. are pending for both defendants.

The charges were announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr., U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi, FBI Assistant Director in Charge Steven J. Jensen of the Washington Field Office, and FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia of the New York Field Office.

According to the affidavit in the District of Columbia, 764 is a network of nihilistic violent extremists who engage in criminal conduct in the United States and abroad, seeking to destroy civilized society through the corruption and exploitation of vulnerable populations, which often include minors. The 764 network’s accelerationist goals include social unrest and the downfall of the current world order, including the United States Government.

As alleged, the defendants engaged in a coordinated criminal enterprise and led a core subgroup within 764 known as 764 Inferno, operated through encrypted messaging applications. As alleged, they directed, participated in, and otherwise caused the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and the defendants facilitated the grooming, manipulation, and extortion of minors. Veragiannis and Nepal allegedly ordered their victims to commit acts of self-harm and engaged in psychological torment and extreme violence against minors. The affidavit alleges that the group targeted vulnerable children online, coercing them into producing degrading and explicit content under threat and manipulation. This content includes “cut signs” and “blood signs” through which young girls would cut symbols into their bodies.

The defendants and their co-conspirators around the world used the CSAM and other gore and violent material to create digital “Lorebooks,” which NVEs used as digital currency within the 764 network — traded, archived in encrypted “vaults,” and used as a means to recruit new members or maintain status within the network. The affidavit also details how the defendants instructed others members in grooming tactics and set content production expectations for new recruits. In multiple instances, defendants threatened and caused their victims to engage in self-mutilation, online and in-person sexual acts, harm to animals, sexual exploitation of siblings and others, acts of violence, threats of violence, suicide, and murder.

Also according to the complaint affidavit, the defendants exploited at least eight minor victims across multiple jurisdictions, with some content traced back to children as young as 13 years old. The network’s activities spanned from late 2020 through early 2025, with core leadership roles attributed to both defendants throughout the period.

“The allegations in this case are not only disturbing, they are also every parent’s nightmare” said U.S. Attorney Martin. “The number of victims allegedly exploited by these defendants, and the depths of depravity are staggering. Justice demands that our response be swift in order to ensure public safety, hold the wrongdoers accountable, and bring the victims some sense of closure so they can heal.”

“These defendants are accused of orchestrating one of the most heinous online child exploitation enterprises we have ever encountered – a network built on terror, abuse, and the deliberate targeting of children,” said Attorney General Bondi. “We will find those who exploit and abuse children, prosecute them, and dismantle every part of their operation.”

“The charges against these subjects represent our resolve to dismantle violent networks that seek to destroy civilized society,” said Assistant Director in Charge Jensen of the FBI Washington Field Office. “Our work is not done until justice is restored for all impacted victims.”

“Prasan Nepal, a leader of 764, allegedly instructed other members of the network to use explicit material to induce and extort victims into producing child exploitative content,” said Assistant Director in Charge Raia of the FBI New York Field Office. “Manipulating the most vulnerable members of society—our children—to produce sexually harmful material to further their depraved goals is unconscionable. The FBI is determined to do whatever necessary to stop the heinous actions of 764 members and hold them accountable in the justice system.”

“These arrests expose one of the most disturbing online child exploitation networks we’ve ever encountered,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch. “A group that glorified violence, weaponized abuse, and targeted children to advance a deeply depraved ideology. Through the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the NYPD is proud to have partnered with federal and international authorities to dismantle this horrific operation and protect the most vulnerable among us.”

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum penalty of life in prison.

This case is being investigated by FBI’s Washington Field Office and New York Field Office with assistance from the FBI Charlotte Field Office, the FBI Athens (Greece) Legal Attaché Office and the Hellenic National Police (HNP) .

It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexandra Hughes, Karen Ditzler Shinskie, and Jack Korba for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorneys Justin Sher and James Donnelly of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Paralegal Specialists Marissa Mondelli, Kristina Hamil, and Jorge Casillas provided assistance. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina provided invaluable assistance.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

SOURCE:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/leaders-764-arrested-and-charged-operating-global-child-exploitation-enterprise
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"Swedish Teen Linked to FBI Investigation of Online Sect 764"
May 04 2025

"A boy who stabbed a pensioner in the back and filmed the act is mentioned by the FBI in an arrest warrant for two leaders of the online sect 764. The boy is pointed out as an accomplice, reports SVT News.

The FBI has arrested two men, 20 and 21 years old, who are alleged to have led a cell in the network and produced and organized the distribution of child pornographic material. They are also alleged to have instructed and encouraged other members to blackmail and commit sexual abuse against children.

To gain access to the cell, members were to carry out sadistic acts and document them on video or image. The Swedish boy is said to have been part of the cell and pointed out by the FBI as an accomplice.

The arrested men risk life imprisonment for having ordered their victims to harm themselves and subjected them to psychological torture. At least eight children, some as young as 13 years old, are said to have been affected.

The Swedish boy, who was 14 years old when he committed the act last September, was deemed guilty of attempted murder after so-called evidence. He was sentenced to pay 250,000 kronor in damages to the stabbed man.

The boy has also confessed to a similar knife attack on a 50-year-old woman.

The self-proclaimed internet sect 764 was founded by an American teenager in 2020 and has got its name after his postal address in his hometown Stephenville in Texas.

The founder is currently serving an 80-year prison sentence for child pornography offenses.

Young boys and men in several countries have, in the name of the movement, among other things, groomed, exploited and blackmailed children sexually, carried out several unprovoked and at least one murder. At least 50 chat groups are or have been active on the platforms Discord and Telegram, but members have hunted victims on everything from Minecraft and Roblox to forums for people with eating disorders and self-harm.

In, among other countries, the USA, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Germany, identified 764 members have been sentenced to prison for murder, terrorist offenses, and sexual abuse against children."

https://swedenherald.com/article/swedish-teen-linked-to-fbi-investigation-of-online-sect-764