Arion Kurtaj, who was identified as a key member of the Lapsus$ hacking collective responsible for a significant leak of Grand Theft Auto 6 footage in 2022, has been released from a secure hospital and is now in prison awaiting a retrial. Kurtaj, then 18, was found by a UK court to have carried out numerous high-profile hacks, including breaches at companies such as BT, Uber, Nvidia, and most notably, Rockstar Games.
The 2022 leak involved the upload of over 90 Grand Theft Auto 6 videos to the GTAForums fan site, occurring more than a year before the game's first official trailer was released. This incident was described as one of the biggest leaks in videogame history. The hacks were reportedly executed by Kurtaj while under police protection in a hotel, using basic technology like an Amazon Firestick, a television, and a cell phone.
Following a psychiatric assessment that indicated Kurtaj has acute autism and a strong inclination to return to cybercrime, a jury determined he had committed the hacks. Consequently, he was issued an indefinite sentence to a secure hospital, to remain there until medical professionals deemed him no longer a danger. A report from BBC correspondent Joe Tidy indicates that this determination has now been made, with Kurtaj transferred to a standard prison.
Kurtaj is now awaiting a retrial, which is scheduled for November. This timing is notably coincidental, as it falls within the same month that Grand Theft Auto 6 is slated for its console launch. The specifics of how Kurtaj will face a retrial for crimes committed while his mental state necessitated extensive institutionalization are not yet clear, with police declining to comment on the matter.