Suspected crimes include inflating stock prices, an illegal bitcoin exchange, operating online casinos and creating 75 shell companies

3 Jews, 2 of them Israeli, charged in ‘breathtaking’ theft of hundreds of millions

Trio allegedly hacked website of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in largest ever theft of customer data from US financial institution

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara speaks at a news conference where he announced charges against three individuals for offenses related to the computer hacking of numerous financial institutions, financial news publishers, and other companies on November 10, 2015 in New York City. The charges against Gery Shalon and others include the largest theft of customer data from a U.S. financial institution in history. Two of the charged individuals are in custody in Israel pending extradition while a third is still at large.  (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images, via JTA)
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara speaks at a news conference where he announced charges against three individuals for offenses related to the computer hacking of numerous financial institutions, financial news publishers, and other companies on November 10, 2015 in New York City. The charges against Gery Shalon and others include the largest theft of customer data from a U.S. financial institution in history. Two of the charged individuals are in custody in Israel pending extradition while a third is still at large. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images, via JTA)

NEW YORK — Three Jewish men, two of them Israeli citizens, are among those charged with hacking the website of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and stealing hundreds of millions of dollars.

The indictments of Gery Shalon, Joshua Samuel Aaron and Ziv Orenstein in U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York were unsealed Tuesday.

The 23-count indictment encompasses the Chase hack along with numerous alleged crimes targeting 12 other companies, including nine financial service companies and The Wall Street Journal, Reuters reported.

Prosecutors said the three had been working together since 2007 and that their crimes include artificially inflating stock prices, an illegal bitcoin exchange, operating online casinos and creating at least 75 shell companies around the world.

Joshua Aaron (FBI)
Joshua Aaron (FBI)

“By any measure, the data breaches at these firms were breathtaking in scope and in size,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said at a news conference.

According to Reuters, Tuesday’s charges are the first tied to the JPMorgan attack, which compromised information in 83 million customer accounts and was the largest theft of customer data from an American financial institution.

Shalon, 31, and Orenstein, 40, are Israeli citizens who were arrested in July. Aaron, 31, is a U.S. citizen who has lived in Moscow and Tel Aviv. Another defendant, Anthony Murgio, was also charged in the bitcoin exchange.

The charges depict Shalon as the leader of the group.

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