Feds Arrest 5 More Suspects in $45 Million Global Bank Heist

[Jake <jake () riskbasedsecurity com>]

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/11/five-arrested-in-bank-heist/

Federal agents have arrested five more suspects in a massive bank
heist that resulted in $45 million being siphoned from ATMs around the
world.

Anthony Diaz, Saul Franjul, Saul Genao, Jaindhi Polanco and Jose
Angeley Valerio allegedly served as mules within a New York cell of an
international cybercrime group that stole $45 million in late 2012 and
early 2013, a sophisticated and coordinated heist that saw millions
withdrawn from ATMsaround the world within a few hours.

A sixth suspect, Franklyn Ferreira, remains at large, according to
authorities with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of
New York, where the charges were filed.

The scheme involved hacking into the computers of bank card processors
to steal prepaid debit card data and erase withdrawal limits on the
card accounts. The hackers passed the accounts to cashers or mules in
the United States and elsewhere to siphon money from ATMs worldwide.
Most of the money went to the organization’s leaders, including
$800,000 stuffed into luggage to be carried by bus to Florida. The
case was intended for a Miami man who fled to the Dominican Republic,
where he was murdered before authorities could arrest him.

The mules photographed the cash before sending it on its way;
authorities seized the photos from a suspect’s iPhone.

The gang first struck Dec. 22, 2012 when hackers targeted a credit
card processor that handled transactions for prepaid MasterCard debit
cards issued to customers of the National Bank of Ras Al-Khaimah PSC,
or RAKBANK, in the United Arab Emirates. They passed the stolen data
to cashers in 20 countries who withdrew $5 million in cash from more
than 4,500 ATMs.

Last May, eight other mules were charged in New York for their roles
in the same New York cell. The cell was responsible for allegedly
siphoning at least $2.8 million from more than 750 Manhattan ATMs in
2.5 hours, authorities say.

The second round of the operation struck on February 19 this year,
beginning around 3 p.m. and continuing until 1:30 the next morning.
This attack targeted a second bank card processor that handled
transactions for the Bank of Muscat in Oman. Within 10 hours, cashers
in 24 countries had made about 36,000 ATM withdrawals totaling about
$40 million.

The New York defendants allegedly participated in this one as well,
withdrawing about $2.4 million from New York ATMs.

The stolen money was laundered and used to buy cars and other luxury goods.

Bar tab showing $4,000 in charges the suspects allegedly racked up
with their ill-gotten gains. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Attorney’s
Office for the Eastern District of New York

The eight previous defendants are Jael Mejia Collado, Joan Luis Minier
Lara, Evan Jose Peña, Jose Familia Reyes, Elvis Rafael Rodriguez, Emir
Yasser Yeje, and Chung Yu-Holguin, all of whom are residents of
Yonkers, New York. The eighth defendant, Alberto Yusi Lajud-Peña, also
known as “Prime” and “Albertico,” reportedly was murdered April 27 in
the Dominican Republic.

Authorities say that on March 2, 2013, just days after the Bank Muscat
operation, Franjul stuffed $800,000 in cash into luggage destined for
Alberto Yusi Lajud-Peña, who was then in Miami. Franjul’s
co-conspirators transported the luggage on a bus to Florida, where
they gave the cash to Lajud-Peña, who later fled to the Dominican
Republic.

Lajud-Peña, 25, was shot dead inside his Dominican Republic home in
April while playing dominoes with two friends, robbing authorities of
the chance to bring him to justice with his alleged co-conspirators.

According to a story and photos published by DeMaoSoy, two masked men
broke into the house and shot Lajud-Peña in his right side, killing
him almost instantly. They wounded the two others, brothers Stuart del
Rosario Duarte, 20, and Brayan del Rosario Duarte, 18, were shot in
their thighs.

The robbers left behind a manila envelope stuffed with $100,000 in
bills, as well as an arsenal of weapons, including an M16 rifle and a
9mm Smith Wesson pistol and a cache of ammunition. According to La
Nacion Dominicana the murder was directly related to internal
conflicts among the gang members over how the stolen money was
divided. Lajud-Peña had just returned to the Dominican Republic from
New York 14 days earlier, according to the publication.

Three men have been arrested for the killing.
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