Citizen of Pakistan laundered more than $ 19.6 million for hackers

Citizen of Pakistan laundered more than $ 19.6 million for hackers

A 47-year-old Pakistani citizen admitted that he was involved in a money laundering scheme that was obtained by criminal means as a result of telephone fraud.Through the accounts of the attacker, a total of $ 19.6 million

Muhammad Sohail Qasmani pleaded guilty to one count of charges - conspiracy to commit fraud using communications media. The suspect remains in custody without the right to bail.

According to the prosecutor, Kasmani told the investigation that he was involved in an international criminal operation, the participants of which used a special kind of telephone fraud for conducting illegal transactions, and took out more than $ 19 million for shell accounts opened in 10 countries. For money laundering Kasmani received the money due to him share.

He headed a large-scale fraudulent scheme, according to investigators, Noor Aziz, a 53-year-old resident of Pakistan.The fraudster's plan was as follows: hackers received unauthorized access to PBXs of various organizations in the US, and then "probed" them in search of unused extensions.Then the lines were reprogrammed in such a way as to make long international calls, which, naturally, companies had to pay.

Special paid numbers participated in the scheme, the call for which is paid to the callers. Such numbers are used by providers of such services, such as, for example, phone sex, a psychic consultation or chat rooms. Accordingly, a series of similar numbers owned by Aziz - but did not provide services.Instead, the caller listened to endless beeps, requests for nonexistent passwords, fake autoresponder messages, or just silence. Such services generate profits based on the duration of the call, so Aziz was able to provide himself a good cook.

In 2008, Kasmani, who was engaged in money laundering and smuggling in Thailand, agreed to participate in the Aziz scheme. He opened several bank accounts, which were supposed to transfer profit from paid calls, as well as paid hackers who worked for Aziza. For four years, from November 2008 to December 31, 2012, the attacker was able to make a multitude of money transfers to the accounts of more than 650 partners in 10 countries: Philippines, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, China: Malaysia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Thailand and Italy.This continued even after Aziz's arrest.

On December 22, 2014, the FBI arrested Kasmani at the airport in Los Angeles, where he arrived from Bangkok. He faces 20 years in prison and $ 250 thousand in fine. Aziz is currently on the run and is wanted by the FBI.