The U.S. Department of Justice said on Tuesday a Chinese state-sponsored contract hacker was arrested last week in Italy at the request of Washington, but the arrested man claimed he is a victim of mistaken identity.

A 33-year-old Chinese man from Shanghai has been arrested in Italy on allegations of industrial espionage connected to a US investigation into cyberattacks on Covid-19 research facilities, Reuters reported. The man, identified as Xu Zewei, was detained last week at Milan’s Malpensa airport after arriving in Italy.

The U.S. Justice Department has confirmed the arrest of Chinese national Xu Zewei, an alleged prolific contract hacker who carried out cyberattacks for China. Xu was arrested in Italy at the request of U.