Russian ‘King of Fraud’ Defends Fake Web Traffic as Not Criminal

Aleksandr Zhukov once boasted he was the “King of fraud” in a 2014 text message to an associate.

A jury in Brooklyn, New York, is set to begin deliberating today whether the Russian national is actually guilty of that crime. According to federal prosecutors, Zhukov, 41, was the ringleader of an online scam that used 1,900 servers to create fake web traffic at media sites including the New York Timesthat led companies like Pepsi Co. to pay inflated advertising rates.

But Zhukov, who took the stand in his own defense during his three-week trial, claims he never misled anyone ...