U.S. Department of Justice
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 damage to computers.
The most recent indictment follows a previous one returned on Dec. 9, 2025, that alleged that Tren de Aragua (TdA), a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, conducted jackpotting attacks across America. The Dec. 9 indictment charged 22 individuals with offenses 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 offenses with crimes committed all over the United States in furtherance of these conspiracies that generated millions in illegal proceeds for the combined defendants and the TdA organization.
See the galley below for photographs depicting just a few of the alleged ATM jackpotting schemes in progress and equipment used: All images courtesy of U.S. Department of Justice:
A related indictment returned on Oct. 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 loss to victim financial institutions was in excess of $100,000 per jackpotting attempt. The overall loss to the victim 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.
