Seventeen Indicted For Cybercrime And ID Theft In New York

[Tdinoz]

Webmoney and E-gold used by defendants (alleged)
Source " Iinformation Week dot com

The defendants are charged with participating in a multinational, Internet-based criminal enterprise that trafficked in stolen credit card data and personal information.

By Thomas Claburn
InformationWeek
November 9, 2007 03:00 PM

Seventeen people and one corporation have been charged with trafficking in stolen credit cards, cybercrime, and identity theft, Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau said.

Three of the defendants -- Vadim Vassilenko, Yelena Barysheva, and John Washington -- were arraigned the day of the announcement. Six of them -- Tetyana Goloborodko, Douglas Latta, Angela Perez, Kostas Kapsis, Lyndon Roach, and Keith Cummings -- were arraigned previously. Two of them -- Eduard Kholstinin and Oleksiy Yarne -- are in custody in other states on unrelated charges. And six others are still being sought by authorities.

Western Express International, formerly headquartered in Manhattan, also was indicted. Vadim Vassilenko and Yelena Barysheva served as corporate officers for the company.

Wednesday's indictment arises from an earlier investigation and indictment of Western Express in February 2006. Vadim Vassilenko and Yelena Barysheva pleaded guilty to charges in that case and both are serving sentences in state prison.

The 173-count indictment is the culmination of a two-year joint investigation conducted by the Manhattan District Attorney's Identity Theft Unit and the United States Secret Service. It charges the defendants with participating in a multinational, Internet-based criminal enterprise -- known to authorities as the "Western Express Cybercrime Group" -- that trafficked in stolen credit card data and personal information.

"The defendants created and participated in a computerized marketplace for the global trafficking of stolen credit card numbers and other stolen personal identifying information," the Manhattan district attorney's office said in a statement Wednesday. "That marketplace enabled the defendants to conduct anonymous transactions, via the Internet and by other means, using sophisticated payment schemes. The payment schemes were intended to ensure that the participants in the transactions would be impossible to identify, and that the proceeds of their criminal activity could not be traced."

The Manhattan district attorney's office alleges that the Western Express committed more than $4 million worth of credit card fraud, and trafficked in more than 95,000 stolen credit card numbers. The company may be responsible for additional fraud which has yet to be identified.

Over the course of four years, $35 million flowed through various bank accounts set up by Western Express, some of which can be attributed to an illegal check cashing business, Morgenthau's office claims. The criminal enterprise allegedly made extensive use of digital currencies e-gold and WebMoney for money laundering and to conceal the movement of funds.

The defendants are charged with enterprise corruption, a class B felony that is punishable by up to 25 years in prison. Additional charges include grand larceny, money laundering, criminal possession of stolen property, falsifying business records, criminal possession of a forged instrument, scheme to defraud, and conspiracy to commit the crimes of grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.

[Tdinoz]

<snipped> FROM http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/624

The District Attorney's Office broke down the source of the money: Nearly $4 million came though illegal check cashing; about $20 million came in through e-gold currency accounts; and, another $15 million arrived as WebMoney digital currency. Authorities have linked Western Express to about $4 million in credit-card fraud, the District Attorney's Office stated.

[pluggy]

The shadow crew ride again.....

[Armaged]

Originally Posted by pluggy

The shadow crew ride again.....

Are you sure this has anything to do with the shadow crew ?

What was the website of the shadow crew ?

[Patryn]

Originally Posted by Armaged

Are you sure this has anything to do with the shadow crew ?

What was the website of the shadow crew ?

It has nothing to do with ShadowCrew. The website for SC was www.shadowcrew.com

[Slingshot377]

Busted!

[Tdinoz]

Knew the name rang a bell with me today "western express" was from this article above I posted here back in November

This mentions them again plus some others known to many here get a mention, e-gold for one
http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1197409593155.shtm 11 Dec 2007
<snipped>

And here in New York, a Secret Service investigation with the Manhattan District Attorney's office led to the indictment of 17 people and a company called Western Express, a digital currency transmittal service.

The defendants are facing charges related to global trafficking in stolen credit card numbers, cyber crime, and identity theft. Based on the over 1.3 terabytes of digital evidence it obtained from search warrants and subpoenas, the Secret Service estimates that approximately $15 million flowed through Western Express' digital currency accounts. Additional judicial action is ongoing with respect to targets identified overseas.

We're starting to really hurt the criminals. Eventually, they are going to realize that it is just too expensive ***8211; both financially and in potential jail time ***8211; to ***8220;conduct business***8221; in the United States

[logicb0x]

shadow crew is famous, but I'm never heard about that ?

[pluggy]

Originally Posted by Armaged

Are you sure this has anything to do with the shadow crew ?

What was the website of the shadow crew ?

Nobody bother with emoticons these days or what ?

The suggests that it isn't to be taken seriously........

[Tdinoz]

Originally Posted by pluggy

Nobody bother with emoticons these days or what ?

The suggests that it isn't to be taken seriously........

Yeah most days on other days the MOST appropriate smiley just flashes into my mind. Now and again I just leave them right there