The US Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Georgia, USA, has finally arraigned the lead casher in the 2008 RBS WorldPay hack. The arraignment comes after the Czech Republic agreed to extradite Evgeny Tarasovich Levitskyy. Levitskyy, aka Vinchenco, Vinch and M.U.R.D.E.R.E.R., has been charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and wire fraud. He was originally indicted by a federal grand jury on October 13, 2015 and is the 14th person to be brought before a court in this case.
The RBS WorldPay hack netted the criminals over $9 million in just 2 hours. Once the online payroll systems used by RBS WorldPay were compromised the hackers raised the limit that a card could withdraw to $1 million. A team of ‘cashers’ then visited over 2,100 ATMs in 280 cities across the United States, Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan, and Canada.
Levitskyy was the lead casher directing the actions of those responsible for withdrawing the money. He took over $500,000 from ATMs using just a single debit card according to the indictment. Cashers kept 30 to 50 percent of the stolen funds according to US officials. They sent the remainder to the leaders of the gang. Three of the leaders, Sergei Tsurikov (Estonian), Viktor Pleshchuk (Russian) and Oleg Covelin (Moldovan) have already been charged.
Heralding the announcement US Attorney John Horn said: “Our pursuit of the perpetrators of this international scheme has continued for over seven years and demonstrates that we will persevere in seeking justice for international cyber- criminals for as long as it takes.”
If found guilty Levitskyy could face long stretch in jail. Each count of the indictment carries up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000. It is highly likely that the attorney’s prosecuting will push for the maximum jail time. The US wants to send a tough message to other cybercriminals. US prosecutors have already expressed frustration over the suspended sentences given to Yevgeny Anikin and Pleshchuk. They were tried in Russia which has no extradition treaty with the US. By giving up the names of other gang members, Pleshchuk got probation and a fine of over $8.9 million. He has since sold property he purchased with the proceeds of this crime and handed over $60,000 in cash.
Conclusion
The US is making it clear that no matter how long it takes, they will track down cybercriminals. Even when found there is no guarantee that they will be extradited or even charged. With Levitskyy now behind bars awaiting his trial, authorities are closer than ever to closing this case.
