A federal grand jury in the District of Nebraska returned an indictment Wednesday charging six individuals for their roles in a large conspiracy to deploy malware and steal millions of dollars from ATMs in the United States, a crime commonly referred to as ‘ATM jackpotting‘.
Eighty-seven others have already been charged, bringing the total to 93 charged defendants. Wester Eduardo Dugarte Goicochea, 43; Mauro Angel Briceno Caldera, 37; Henry Rafael Gonzalez-Gutierrez, 37; and Giovanny Miguel Ocanto Yance, 26, Venezuelan nationals residing in the Houston area, were charged, in addition to Jelfenson David Bolivar Diaz, 38, and Arlinzon Jose Reyes Villegas, 21, both Venezuelan nationals, were charged. This indictment alleges five counts, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank burglary and computer fraud, bank fraud, bank burglary, and computer damage.
The most recent indictment follows a previous one returned on Dec. 9, 2025, that alleged that Tren de Aragua (TdA), a designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation, conducted jackpotting attacks across America.
The December 9 indictment charged 22 individuals with offences for their roles in the conspiracy: 13 individuals are charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, 10 with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, 10 with conspiracy to commit bank burglary and fraud and related activity in connection with computers, and 22 with conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The indictment also alleges that TdA used jackpotting to steal millions of dollars in the United States and then transferred the proceeds among its members and associates to conceal the illegally obtained cash.
The indictment alleged a national conspiracy to commit these offences, with crimes committed across the United States in furtherance of the conspiracies, generating millions in illegal proceeds for the combined defendants and the TdA organisation.
A related indictment returned on October 21, 2025, charged 32 individuals and alleged 56 counts, including one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit bank burglary and computer fraud, 18 counts of bank fraud, 18 counts of bank burglary, and 18 counts of damage to computers.
An additional indictment returned on Jan. 21 charged 31 individuals and alleged 32 counts, including one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit bank burglary and computer fraud, 10 counts of bank fraud, 10 counts of bank burglary, and 10 counts of damage to computers.
The losses to victim financial institutions exceeded $100,000 per jackpotting attempt. The overall loss to the victim’s financial institutions is over $6 million, with at least an additional $1.74 million attempted.
If convicted, the defendants face maximum penalties of between 20 and 335 years in prison.
According to court documents, TdA is a violent transnational criminal organisation that originated as a prison gang in Venezuela in the mid-2000s. TdA has expanded its criminal network throughout the Western Hemisphere and established a presence in the United States. TdA’s criminal activities range from drug trafficking and firearms trafficking to commercial sex trafficking, kidnapping, robbery, theft, fraud, and extortion.
TdA members also commit murder, assault, and other violent acts to advance the organisation’s criminal activities. TdA has also developed an additional revenue stream through financial crimes targeting financial institutions throughout the United States, including jackpotting to steal millions of dollars in cash.
In the past six months, the Justice Department has secured charges against a total of 93 TdA members and leaders with a range of federal offences that include material support to a designated foreign terror organisation, bank burglary, money laundering, damage and unauthorised access to protected computers, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit the same offences.
