Oct 6, 2010 07:14 GMT  ·  By

According to Ukrainian authorities around twenty people from different regions of the country are suspected of being involved in an international bank fraud operation related to the ZeuS trojan.

The group of suspects includes the five key players arrested by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) last week in the city of Donetsk, which are considered to be the leaders of the gang.

In a press release [Google translation], the SBU confirmed that the arrests and raids, which were executed between September 29 and October 2, were the result of cooperation with law enforcement agencies in US, UK and the Netherlands.

The loss caused by the Ukrainian gang, which used the ZeuS trojan to infect computers and steal online banking credentials, is estimated at over forty million dollars

The stolen money was used to buy real estate, cars, consumer goods and other items. When executing the search warrants, SBU officers found cash, luxury watches and expensive jewelry valued at around $100,000.

Powerful computers suspected of being used in the criminal activities were also seized and will be examined for evidence.

The Financial Times reports that the five ringleaders have been released, but are under permanent surveillance and are banned from leaving the country.

They are expected to be charged this week with offenses related to distributing malicious programs, interfering with computer transmissions and money laundering, which alone can carry a sentence of up to fifteen years in prison.

Last week, the UK Metropolitan Police arrested twenty Eastern European fraud suspects as part of the same international investigation into ZeuS-related crimes.

The US authorities charged 96 suspects and arrested 39 for recruiting or serving as money mules, who laundered stolen funds for the fraudsters abroad.

The Netherlands Police Agency helped in the investigation by gathering evidence from the Internet infrastructure located in the country and used by the gang.