The Department of Justice has recently announced charges against an additional 31 individuals in an ATM hacking scheme, bringing the total under indictment to 87.
🚨 JUST IN: Trump DOJ announces HUGE bust of 31 criminals, including Tren de Aragua gang-affiliated individuals for ATM fraud
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 26, 2026
More Democrat voters.
Keep prosecuting the fraud! 🔥pic.twitter.com/WqiPcgiSIN
The DOJ announced that many of those arrested in the conspiracy to defraud banks via the hack were members of Venezuela's notorious Tren de Aragua gang, which has been labeled as a foreign terror organization by the Trump administration.
“This Department of Justice has already prosecuted more than 290 members of Tren de Aragua and will continue working tirelessly to put these vicious terrorists behind bars after the prior administration let them infiltrate our country,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a press release.
The conspirators allegedly utilized a variant of malware known as Ploutus to hack into ATMs to force the machines to dispense cash. The conspiracy was conducted around the country, where members would scout banks and credit unions before probing the location for alarms. The hackers would then install the self-deleting malware onto the computer of the machine before splitting the ill-gotten goods.
“A large ring of criminal aliens allegedly engaged in a nationwide conspiracy to enrich themselves and the TdA terrorist organization by ripping off American citizens," said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in the same release. "After committing bank robbery, fraud, and other serious crimes, they will be vigorously prosecuted and held accountable for their crimes. The Justice Department’s Joint Task Force Vulcan will not stop until it completely dismantles and destroys TdA and other foreign terrorists that import chaos to America.”
Should they be convicted, the conspirators could face up to 335 years in prison for the scheme.
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