This ultimately is WatchCrime on a bigger scale than can be imagined; a massive 21st century bank heist that reached across the internet and stretched around the globe. It was conducted without a getaway vehicle or even a criminal entering a building.
It started with a cyber attack on the Bank of Muscat in Oman and the National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah in PSC in the United Arab Emirates, resulting in $45 million being stolen from pre-paid credit cards. The crimes took place far from where the hacking was executed.
Last month, the alleged ringleader, Alberto Lajud-Pena, 23, was shot dead during an attempted robbery in the Dominican Republic.
Investigators found $100,000 in cash in the house, as well as an M-16 assault rifle, two 9 mm pistols, a revolver, ammunition clips and a telescopic sight. The money and weapons belonged to Lajud-Pena, police said. Lajud-Pena was one of eight men that U.S. prosecutors said on Thursday were part of the New York cell of an international criminal syndicate that perpetrated one of the biggest bank heists in the world.
The crime ring hacked into the networks of two credit card processing companies in December 2012 and February 2013, respectively, to steal prepaid debit card data which they used to fraudulently withdraw money from cash machines in 27 countries in just a few hours. They drastically increased the amount available on the cards, and used the information about the cards to withdraw money at banks around the world.
Counterfeit cards were distributed to “cashers” globally, enabling them to siphon millions of dollars from cash machines in a matter of hours, the prosecutors said.
The New York group was led by Lajud-Pena and pulled $2.4 million from almost 3,000 ATMs in the city during the space of 10 hours in February.
Funds were then laundered with the purchase of several Rolexes and other high end watches. So far two Rolex watches and a Mercedes SUV have been retrieved.
U.S. prosecutors have said that $2 million in cash is still missing from the heists.
Eight suspects have also been arrested for their part in allegedly making nearly 3,800 separate transactions to withdraw $2.8 million in New York alone. That makes it the second largest theft on record in New York City, surpassed only by the 1978 Lufthansa heist made famous in the movie “Goodfellas.”
Meanwhile, in a sign of the sheer breadth and international scope of the crime, a 35-year-old man and a 56-year-old woman were caught on February 19 withdrawing 170,000 euros ($220,500) in Düsseldorf using one of the Bank of Muscat credit cards. In total, $2.4 million dollars was withdrawn in seven German cities, prosecutors said. Funds were also drawn from 27 countries around the world including Belgium, Canada, Columbia, UK, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Italy.
