International cyber crime ring busted

Posted on Friday, June 21st, 2013 at 4:30 pm    

Eight people who were allegedly members of an international cybercrime ring that aimed to steal $15 million were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to commit identity theft.

Thirty-three-year-old Kiev, Ukraine resident Oleksiy Sharapka was the leader of the syndicate that tried to steal millions from customer accounts, according to U.S. federal prosecutors. He is currently still not under custody. U.S. attorney Paul Fishman said four of the members of crime ring were arrested on June 19.

The crime allegedly began when Sharapka was deported from the United States in 2012 after being released from a Massachusetts federal prison.

Financial institutions whose networks were subjected to the crime ring’s hacking included Aon Hewitt, Automated Data Processing, Inc., Citibank, E-Trade, Electronic Payments Inc., Fundtech Holdings LLC, iPayment Inc., JPMorgan Chase Bank, Nordstrom Bank, PayPal, TD Ameritrade, TIAA-CREF, USAA, Veracity Payment Solutions, Inc., and the U.S. Department of Defense’s payroll arm.

Contact our lawyers at the Bruno Law Offices by calling 217-328-6000 to consult with us if you are facing internet crime charges in Champaign and want a strong defense.