News reports have revealed that a notorious ATM hacker has pleaded guilty to worldwide theft estimated at $55m.
Ercan Findikoglu who hails from Turkey, with only a high school certificate to his name, had been reported to have hacked the computer networks of at least three payment processors for Visa and MasterCard credit and prepaid debit cards.
Findikoglu told Federal Judge, Kiyo Matsumoto, saying:
"I intended to defraud the financial institutions by manipulating the account balances."
Findikoglu revealed to the judge that he had been able to falsely inflate the balances on various accounts, after which he forwarded the account information to "cash crews" reported to have been standing by in 26 cities from July 2010 to February 2013.
The crew members were revealed to begin withdrawing large amounts of money, after being given the green light, maxing out the accounts.
Thirteen co-conspirators had previously pleaded guilty over same charges as Findikoglu now faces up to 14 years in prison following his sentencing, and is expected to repay $55 million in restitution to the financial institutions that been ripped off by his hacks.
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A $250,000 fine, as well as being deported to Turkey at the end of his jail term.