The United States Secret Service financial crimes branch has captured the "most-wanted" computer hacker in the world, a Turkish man, Ercan Findikoglu, accused of running a global operation to hack automated teller machines.
Findikoglu was arrested in 2013 by German police on an international arrest warrant when he travelled to Frankfurt, Germany, to buy his wife a new car, according to Washington Examiner.
The Secret Service had been looking for Findikoglu since he was added to the FBI's Cyber Most Wanted list in 2008. Prior to his arrest, the Secret Service searched for Findikoglu in 26 different countries, combing through computers and over 100,000 emails.
There was also a Turkish Warrant for his arrest and extradition.
On June 23, according to Bank Info Security, Findikoglu was extradited from Germany to New York after years of negotiations and will now face trial.
The indictment filed on July 25th, 2013 by the U.S. Attorney for Eastern District of New York, details 18 charges against Findikoglu, including hacking into the computer networks of at least three U.S. payment processors and increasing the credit limit of prepaid debit cards to make unauthorized withdrawals.
The indictment indicates that Findikoglu has been charged with forming and leading a group that made 15,000 unauthorized transactions across 18 countries in February 2011, 5,700 transactions across 20 countries in December 2012 and attacks in Feburary 2013, stealing $59 million in total.
Findikoglu will face up to 247.5 years in prison if he is found guilty of all charges.
