Arion Kurtaj, a member of the Lapsus$ hacking group connected to the 2022 Grand Theft Auto VI leak, has been transferred from a secure hospital to a regular prison ahead of a retrial scheduled for November.

BBC News cyber correspondent Joe Tidy reported that Kurtaj is no longer being held under the secure hospital placement imposed after his earlier court proceedings.

Kurtaj was found unfit to stand trial in the conventional sense because of his severe autism. A jury was instead asked to determine whether he had committed the alleged acts, without considering whether he had the criminal intent normally required for a conviction.

The jury found that Kurtaj had carried out a series of cyberattacks connected to Lapsus$.

The case was not limited to the GTA 6 leak. Prosecutors linked Kurtaj to attacks involving Rockstar Games, Uber, Nvidia and other major technology companies.

During the Rockstar breach, approximately 90 early-development videos from Grand Theft Auto VI were posted online. Rockstar later confirmed that the footage was authentic.

The court imposed an indefinite hospital order in December 2023 after hearing evidence that Kurtaj remained highly motivated to return to cybercrime and could continue posing a risk to the public.

An indefinite hospital order does not automatically mean a life prison sentence. It allows a person to remain in secure psychiatric care until medical professionals and legal authorities determine that continued detention is no longer required.

Kurtaj has now left that hospital and is being held in a standard prison while awaiting further criminal proceedings.

The transfer became public after reporting restrictions were lifted by a High Court judge. Tidy said he had been seeking confirmation after images reportedly posted from inside prison began circulating online.

A conventional criminal retrial is expected to begin in November.

The reason for the new trial and the full legal basis for the change in Kurtaj’s status have not yet been publicly explained in detail.

Grand Theft Auto VI is scheduled to launch on November 19, 2026, for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.