BOSTON, MA – Two men alleged to be part of a nationwide “jackpotting conspiracy” to drain money from bank ATMs, including nearly $60,000 from a New Hampshire credit union, were arrested this month after a failed attempt in Augusta, Maine.
The Venezuelan nationals, allegedly members of Tren De Aragua, “a violent transnational criminal organization,” were charged with conspiracy to commit bank theft after their arrest earlier this month at an Augusta credit union, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts announced Thursday.
The charges against Moises Alejandro Martinez Gutierrez and Lestter Guerrero, both 29, comprise robberies and attempted robberies in New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. They will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date. Both are in the United States unlawfully, according to the release.
The arrests are the latest in an 18-month investigation into the jackpotting scheme, which so far has netted 93 arrests, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
ATM jackpotting schemes involve installing malware directly to the ATM’s software programming that overrides withdrawal limits and forces the ATM to dispense all its cash, according to a news release from the Massachusetts U.S. attorney. The malware only affects the ATM and doesn’t access account information of customers, police said.
The pair allegedly stole $169,050 in a five-week, five-state ATM jackpotting spree across eastern New England in three successful robberies in Rochester, Rhode Island and Connecticut. They also had failed at attempts in Massachusetts and Rhode Island before being arrested at the failed attempt in Augusta, according to an affidavit filed from the U.S. Attorney’s Office as reported by The Boston Globe.
The robberies began on Dec. 31, when $38,340 was stolen from Ascend Bank in Norwich, Conn. That was followed by two failed attempts at Ocean State Credit Union in Coventry, R.I., on Jan. 14 and at Stoneham Bank in Stoneham, Mass., on Jan. 19.
On Jan. 20, the largest amount was stolen – $72,500 at Liberty Bay Credit Union in Braintree, Mass. The Granite State Credit Union robbery in Rochester followed on Jan. 30, with $58,200 stolen, according to the affidavit. Granite State CU is headquartered in Manchester, with branches in Nashua, Concord, Tilton, Derry, Amherst, Candia and Rochester.
The Rochester Police Department the next day said the jackpotting scheme “was attempted” between 2 and 3 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 30. They didn’t name the bank or say it had been successful.
“Two men in a dark colored vehicle attempted to steal money from a local ATM by means of a possible ‘jackpotting’ scheme,” the department announced on its Facebook page. They asked for information that would help their investigation.
“The investigation is active and ongoing and actual means and details of the incident are still being investigated,” the post said.
On Feb. 5, Augusta police responded to a 4:30 a.m. burglar alarm at Connected Credit Union, which is in the north end of the Maine’s capital city a short distance from an Interstate 95 interchange.
Gutierrez and Guerrero, driving a black Ford Fusion with stolen plates, according to police, was spotted by officers “within view of the credit union.”
Clothing in the vehicle, including a reflective vest, matched items worn by the suspected thieves in security video recorded at the banks that had been robbed, according to authorities.
The arrests are part of an 18-month federal investigation into a nationwide conspiracy, believed to be coordinated and committed by members of Tren de Aragua, often abbreviated to TdA, to steal money from ATMs using malware.
“TdA is a violent transnational criminal organization that originated in Venezuela in the mid-2000s which has expanded throughout the Western Hemisphere with an established presence in the United States,” the release said.
TdA’s criminal activities include human smuggling, extortion, drug trafficking, kidnapping and robbery, according to the release.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the organization funds its activities in part through ATM jackpotting, stealing millions from financial institutions.
“Jackpotting proceeds are typically distributed amongst TdA members and associates to conceal its derivation,” the release said. “TdA members often are instructed to split the proceeds from a jackpot operation with 50% earmarked and sent to TdA leadership in Venezuela and 50% divided among subjects conducting ground operations.”
Martinez Gutierrez and Guerrero were arrested in Augusta Feb. 5, following an attempted ATM jackpotting robbery at Connected Credit Union, 85 Civic Center Drive. Martinez Gutierrez is alleged to be connected to at least five additional ATM jackpotting robberies or attempted robberies across New England, including in Rochester on Jan. 30. The others are robberies in Norwich, Conn., on Dec. 31 and in Braintree, Mass., on Jan. 20. Attempted robberies he’s alleged to be connected with are on Jan. 14 in Coventry, R.I., and on Jan. 19, in Stoneham, Mass.
Guerrero is alleged to be connected to the Rochester robbery.
The charge of conspiring to commit bank theft provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, New Haven Division; the Massachusetts State Police; the Braintree, Stoneham, Boston, Dedham, Malden, Somerville, Augusta (Maine), Rochester (N.H.), Coventry (R.I.) and Norwich (Conn.) Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kaitlin J. Brown of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit and Peter K. Levitt, Chief of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit, are prosecuting the case.
TdA has spread from Venezuela across the western hemisphere over the past two decades, according to the affidavit. Members have tattoos of crowns, red roses, trains, dice, guns, clocks, and the No. 23, and favor clothing featuring Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, and embrace the phrase: “Hijos de Dios,” or sons of God, according to the court documents.