March 18, 2014 - US authorities have charged three men accused of using information hacked from more than a dozen financial service firms in a bid to steal at least $15 million.

The defendants - Oleksiy Sharapka and Leonid Yanovitsky from Kiev, Ukraine, and Richard Gundersen from New York - are accused of being part of a gang which gained access to the bank accounts of customers of a range of firms, including Citi, E-Trade, Fundtech, JPMorgan Chase and PayPal.

The gang then allegedly diverted money to bank accounts and pre-paid debit cards the defendants controlled. They then implemented a 'cash out' operation, employing crews to withdraw the stolen funds by making ATM withdrawals and fraudulent purchases in New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, Georgia and elsewhere.

Finally, the defendants and their conspirators laundered the proceeds of the scheme, often through international wire transfer services, to the leaders of the conspiracy overseas, say prosecutors.

Sharapka is thought to have directed the conspiracy with the help of Yanovitsky. Gunderson allegedly facilitated the movement of fraud proceeds. Sharapka and Yanovitsky are fugitives while Gundersen will be arraigned on the new charges. All three face long prison sentences if found guilty.