A New York City resident has been sentenced in a Boston federal court for his involvement in hacking, credit card trafficking, and money laundering conspiracies. Vitalii Antonenko, aged 32, received a sentence of time served plus an additional 10 days, totaling 69 months and 18 days in prison. Following his prison term, he will be subject to three years of supervised release. The court also ordered Antonenko to pay approximately $1.8 million in restitution to one of the victims.
In September 2024, Antonenko pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to computer networks and traffic in unauthorized access devices, as well as a money laundering conspiracy charge. His arrest occurred at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport in March 2019 when he arrived from Ukraine carrying computers and digital media containing hundreds of thousands of stolen payment card numbers. A federal grand jury indicted him in May 2020.
Antonenko and his co-conspirators targeted internet networks with security vulnerabilities that contained credit and debit card information such as account numbers, expiration dates, and verification values (Payment Card Data), along with other personally identifiable information (PII). They employed a hacking method known as "SQL injection attack" to illegally access these networks and extract data for sale on online criminal marketplaces.
Once the data was sold by a co-conspirator, Antonenko used Bitcoin alongside traditional banking methods to launder the proceeds. This was done to obscure the funds' nature, location, source, ownership, and control. The conspiracy affected victims including a hospitality business and a non-profit scientific research institution located in eastern Massachusetts.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy alongside Andrew Murphy from the U.S. Secret Service's Boston Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth B. Kosto led the prosecution for this case.