Eight people have been arrested, and accused of stealing millions from ATM’s across New York and being part of a larger worldwide fraud
Prosecutors say ATMs on Broadway from West 116th Street to West 23rd Street were accessed in the operation.
According to the District Attorney’s office: Eight foot soldiers of an international cyber-crime ring have been charged in a staggering rip off of ATMs that netted $45 million worldwide.
“Instead of using masks and guns, this cyber-crime organization used laptops and malware,” Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said.
The operation marked the biggest theft of bank cash in New York since the infamous 1978 Lufthansa heist of $5.8 million at Kennedy Airport.
In New York City alone, the eight defendants and their co-conspirators withdrew approximately $2.8 million in a matter of hours, authorities said.
The defendants face charges of conspiracy to commit access device fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and money laundering.
Seven of the eight defendants have been arrested are identified as: Jael Mejia Collado, Joan Luis Minier Lara, Evan Jose Peña, Jose Familia Reyes, Elvis Rafael Rodriguez, Emir Yasser Yeje, and Chung Yu-Holguin, all residents of Yonkers, New York.
The indictment also charges an eighth defendant, Alberto Yusi Lajud-Peña, also known as “Prime” and “Albertico,” who is reported to have been murdered on April 27, 2013, in the Dominican Republic.
