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On Tuesday, A U.S. grand jury in Atlanta indicted eight people in connection to the RBS WorldPay heist that cost the Royal Bank of Scotland more than $9 million dollars USD in the span of twelve hours. Of the eight indicted, four are being charged with hacking into the RBS WorldPay network, and four others for access device fraud.
RBS WorldPay crew indicted by federal grand jury
Named in the indictment are Sergei Tsurikov, 25, Viktor Pleshchuk, 28, Oleg Covelin, 28, Igor Grudijev, 31, Ronald Tsoi, 31, Evelin Tsoi, 20, Mihhail Jevgenov, 33, and a person known only as “Hacker 3”.
Hacker 3, as well as Tsurikov, Pleshchuk, and Pleshchuk, are alleged to have compromised the encryption used by RBS WorldPay to protect customer data on payroll debit cards. These payroll cards are used by various companies to pay employees. By using a payroll debit card, employees are able to withdraw their regular salaries from an ATM.
Once the encryption was cracked, the ring allegedly raised the account limits on the payroll cards, and then passed them to a network of cashers. The cashers, including Grudijev, Mr., and Mrs. Tsoi, Jevgenov and others, used 44 counterfeit payroll debit cards to withdraw more than $9 million from more than 2,100 ATMs in at least 280 cities worldwide. Cities in the United States, Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan and Canada, were looted for more than $9 million USD within a span of less than 12 hours. The score paid well, as the cashers were allowed to keep 30-50 percent of the take, and send the rest to Tsurikov, Pleshchuk and other co-defendants.
"The charges brought against this ring were possible only because of unprecedented international cooperation with our law enforcement partners, particularly between the United States and Estonia," said Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division, Lanny A. Breuer.
Indeed the level of international cooperation was a significant factor in this case. According to records, thanks to the joint investigation between U.S. law enforcement authorities and Estonian Central Criminal Police, Tsurikov, Ronald Tsoi, Evelin Tsoi and Jevgenov were apprehended in Estonia earlier this year. Each is facing related charges in Estonia. Tsurikov is also in custody in Estonia and is pending extradition to the United States. Federal prosecution of the Estonian defendants has been closely coordinated with the Estonian Office of the Prosecutor General.
Adding to that is the cooperation between the Hong Kong Police Force and the FBI that led to a parallel investigation in Hong Kong, resulting in the identification and arrest of two individuals responsible for withdrawing RBS WorldPay funds from ATMs there. The Netherlands Police Agency National Crime Squad High Tech Crime Unit and the Netherlands National Public Prosecutor’s Office also provided significant assistance.
Tsurikov, Pleshchuk, Covelin and "Hacker 3" each face a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and each wire fraud count, up to five years in prison for conspiracy to commit computer fraud, up to five or 10 years in prison for each count of computer fraud, a two-year mandatory minimum sentence for aggravated identity theft, and fines up to $3.5 million dollars.
The charges against Grudijev, the Tsois, and Jevgenov carry a maximum of up to 15 years in prison for each count and a fine of up to $250,000. The indictment also seeks criminal forfeiture of $9.4 million from the defendants.
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