Cyber bandit: man charged in $1.2M banking malware heist

A Brooklyn man pleaded guilty in a federal court for his part in a nearly $1.2 million banking malware heist.

Vyacheslav Khaimov, age 55, of Brooklyn, N.Y., copped to operating an unlicensed money transmitting, according to a Feb. 3 Justice Department press release.

Khaimov was part of a that scheme involved the use of malware to gain access to victim's bank accounts in order to transfer funds through a network of individuals who, in turn, further transmitted the money, or portions of the money, either to additional U.S.-based intermediaries or directly overseas.  

“Modern-day bank robbers no longer need a gunman and a getaway driver,” FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney said in the release. “Today, they just need a malware operator and money mules to carry out their crime from anywhere in the world.”