Alleged Ploutus ATM Malware Mastermind Faces US Court After Arrest

Anibal Alexander Canelon Aguirre, a 50-year-old Venezuelan national, pleaded not guilty in a Nebraska district court on Friday and will stay in detention until his trial. The FBI has claimed for months that he was the mastermind behind Ploutus, malware used by criminals to force ATMs to hand over all of their cash. He is known as "Prometheus" and "The Engineer", and in March he became the first cybercriminal added to the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list.

According to the report, criminals open the top of an ATM, connect it to a personal device and install the malware. This scheme is known as ATM jackpotting. The Justice Department has arrested, charged and secured convictions for dozens of people involved. Officials have tracked at least 1,500 attacks, causing $40.7 million in losses. A Justice Department official linked the malware to the criminal group Tren de Aragua.

Aguirre was indicted by a federal grand jury in Nebraska last December. The charges include conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank burglary and fraud in connection with computers, money laundering and providing material support to terrorists. He faces up to 70 years in prison if convicted. Authorities have not said when or where he was detained, and a spokesperson said it would be inaccurate to call his return an extradition. Fox News reported he was arrested in Venezuela last month.