Matjaž Škorjanc, the author of a malicious code used in the Mariposa botnet that infected millions of computers around the world between 2008 and 2011, has been let off the hook as his case became statute barred.

Škorjanc, at the time 23, was arrested in Maribor in July 2010 after a two-year investigation into malware that had hijacked about 12.7 million computers around the world.

FBI agents identified him as the author of the malicious software, whose main buyer was a Spanish crime ring that created the botnet Mariposa. The malware caused over US$100 million in damages.

Slovenia denied the US's request for his extradition, but prosecuted him, and in 2013, Škorjanc was found guilty of creating the malicious software, of money laundering and assisting others in illegal acts.

Škorjanc, who went by the name of Iserdo online, was sentenced to four years and ten months in prison and fined €3,000. On appeal, the higher court ordered him in February 2015 to pay an additional €25,000.

He appealed again, but by the time the Constitutional Court ordered a retrial in May 2022, he had already served his entire prison sentence.

The new trial started in December 2022 but the case passed the statute of limitations before it could finish, the newspaper Večer reported on 8 January.

Maribor District Court judge Jasna Murgel told the paper that a number of hearings had been scheduled and nine of them had been carried out before the case became statute barred.

This means that Škorjanc has not been found guilty and the state will have to repay the €25,000 he was ordered to pay by the Higher Court.

The amount is the difference between his estimated pecuniary gain and the apartment, car and computer equipment seized by the court.

Murgel told Večer that the apartment had been returned to Škorjanc. Moreover, he is eligible for compensation for court costs and for the time spent in prison.