Suspect in $55 Million A.T.M. Scheme Is Extradited to U.S.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/25/business/suspect-in-55-million-atm-scheme-is-extradited-to-us.html

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A man who prosecutors say orchestrated one of the biggest bank thefts in American history faced charges in the United States after fighting extradition from a German jail for a year and a half.

The suspect, Ercan Findikoglu, 33, is accused of stealing more than $55 million in a series of thefts that prosecutors said was stunning in its sophistication, involving hackers gaining access to bank computers and runners withdrawing millions in cash from A.T.M.s within hours.

For years, Mr. Findikoglu, who prosecutors say went by the online code names “Segate” and “Predator,” meticulously stayed off American soil to avoid Secret Service agents investigating the case. Even after being arrested in Germany in 2013, he fought extradition to the United States for 18 months. But on Tuesday, an airplane with Mr. Findikoglu touched down in New York for his day in court.

On Wednesday, Mr. Findikoglu pleaded not guilty to 18 charges, including computer intrusion, bank and wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering, in Federal District Court in Brooklyn. The judge agreed with prosecutors that no bail should be granted to Mr. Findikoglu, a Turkish citizen, because he probably had enough cash to flee the country.

“Cybercriminals, and especially hackers as this defendant is alleged to be, wreak havoc and steal millions of dollars by breaching our information systems and networks with clicks and keystrokes from the perceived anonymity of their computers at locations all over the globe,” Kelly T. Currie, acting United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.

Mr. Findikoglu’s lawyer, Christopher Madiou, declined to comment.

Others suspected of taking part in the A.T.M. thefts have already been arrested. The Justice Department’s long effort to bring Mr. Findikoglu to trial highlights the Obama administration’s desire to prosecute those accused of coordinating online attacks on American companies from abroad.

Prosecutors said the A.T.M. thefts spanned three years, from 2010 to 2013, and targeted multiple institutions, including JPMorgan Chase, MasterCard and the American Red Cross.

Prosecutors said that hackers including Mr. Findikoglu wormed their way into the computer systems of financial institutions that process prepaid debit cards. Next, they said, the hackers significantly raised the withdrawal limits normally set for the cards, which are often used to pay employees or aid disaster victims.

In the final step, resembling a movie version of a bank job, but without the masks, teams of thieves in at least 24 countries sped from A.T.M. to A.T.M. using the cards to draw out money. On the Saturday before Christmas in 2012 alone — a day when A.T.M.s are flush with cash for holiday shoppers — one team withdrew $400,000 from 140 locations in New York in less than three hours, the prosecutors said.