Four sentenced in connection to banking Trojan

by Steve Ragan - Nov 17 2009, 16:50

A gang of four has been sentenced to thirteen years in prison for their role in using a Trojan to steal hundreds of thousands of pounds from UK bank accounts. Each man had earlier pleaded guilty to their crimes at Southwark Crown Court, which saw them send the proceeds to criminal networks operating in Eastern Europe.

On April 8, 2009, more than 50 officers from the Metropolitan Police's Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU), local boroughs, and Specialist Crime Directorate, raided several addresses in south-east London following an investigation into a criminal network that had been targeting the financial services industry. 

This was the first operation of its kind undertaken by the PCeU working in collaboration with the financial industry. Officers have benefited from the expertise and knowledge of stakeholders within the banking and financial services sectors, and combined with conventional covert policing methods, have provided a coordinated response to e-crime.

The gang was believed to have its origins in Eastern Europe and had been using servers in countries across the continent to spread the Malware. The Trojan allowed funds to be stolen from several UK victims' bank accounts and transferred to other money laundering accounts set up and controlled by the gang. The funds were then withdrawn by 'money mules' specifically recruited by the criminal network for that purpose.

"This was a complex investigation which certainly involves other people in Russia, but there was a clear structure to the organisation in the UK. In order to withdraw the stolen cash a key element was to obtain UK bank accounts in which to deposit the funds. Plenty of people appear to be willing to accept money into their accounts with no questions asked and they are a crucial cog in this kind of criminal machine,” said Detective Constable Kevin Brocklesby from the PCeU.

Azamat Rahmonov, 25, was sentenced to four and a half years for conspiracy to defraud and four and a half years for money laundering to run concurrently. Shohruh Fayziev, 23, was sentenced to four years for conspiracy to defraud and four years for possession of articles for use in fraud to run concurrently.

Joao Dos Santos Cruz, 33, was sentenced to 32 months for conspiracy to defraud, and four months possession of articles for use in fraud and possession of false and/or improperly obtained identity documents (a passport) to run consecutively. Paulo Jorgi, 36, was sentenced to 21 months for money laundering.

A fifth member of the ring, Edgar Orlando Henriques, 21, failed to appear for sentencing.

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