Five plead guilty in latest federal ATM jackpotting case
Five Venezuelan nationals pleaded guilty to ATM jackpotting conspiracy tied to Ploutus malware, as FBI tallies $58 million in losses since 2021.
Five Venezuelan nationals pleaded guilty in Kansas federal court to conspiracy to commit bank larceny for attempted ATM jackpotting attacks in Wamego and Manhattan in December 2025; Luis Velasquez-Artigas was sentenced to nine months. The FBI says jackpotting has caused over $58 million in losses since 2021, with more than 1,900 incidents tracked since 2020 and over 700 in 2025. Separately, Juan Manuel Gouveia-Aguilera was sentenced to eight years and ordered to pay restitution for using Ploutus malware to steal more than $3.5 million from hundreds of ATMs. Prosecutors link the schemes to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and say at least 119 people have been charged.
- Five defendants pleaded guilty; one sentenced to nine months in prison.
- FBI tracked 1,900+ jackpotting incidents since 2020 with $58M+ losses.
- Ploutus malware, first seen in 2013, empties ATMs via infected hard drives.
- Prosecutors tie the campaign to Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua; 119 charged.
- A related defendant received eight years and owes $3.5 million restitution.
- Vendors
- Diebold Nixdorf
- Products
- Ploutus
- Threat actors
- Tren de Aragua
- Malware
- Ploutus
- Countries
- United StatesVenezuela
From the original article
4 min read at therecord.media
Five Venezuelan nationals have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank larceny after prosecutors accused them of being part of a group dedicated to robbing ATMs using malware.
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