New York Man Pleads Guilty to Hacking, Credit Card Trafficking and Money Laundering Conspiracies

BOSTON – A New York City man pleaded guilty today to conspiracies to engage in computer hacking, trafficking in stolen payment card numbers and money laundering.

Vitalii Antonenko, 32, pleaded guilty before United States District Judge William G. Young to one count of conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to computer networks and to traffic in unauthorized access devices, and one count of money laundering conspiracy. Antonenko was arrested and detained in March 2019 on money laundering charges at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport after he arrived there from Ukraine carrying computers and other digital media that held hundreds of thousands of stolen payment card numbers. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in May 2020. Judge Young scheduled sentencing for Dec. 10, 2024.  

Antonenko and co-conspirators scoured the internet for computer networks with security vulnerabilities that were likely to contain credit and debit card account numbers, expiration dates, and card verification values (Payment Card Data) and other personally identifiable information (PII). They used a hacking technique known as a “SQL injection attack” to access those networks without authorization, extracted Payment Card Data and other PII, and transferred it for sale on online criminal marketplaces. Once a co-conspirator sold the data, Antonenko and others used Bitcoin as well as traditional bank and cash transactions to launder the proceeds in order to disguise their nature, location, source, ownership and control. The conspiracy’s victims included a hospitality business and non-profit scientific research institution, both located in eastern Massachusetts.  

The charge of conspiracy to gain unauthorized access and to traffic in access devices provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, restitution and forfeiture. The charge of money laundering conspiracy provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $500,000 fine, restitution and forfeiture. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Andrew Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, Boston Field Office and made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth B. Kosto Deputy Chief of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.