Three Charged In 'Breathtaking' JPMorgan Hack

Three men have been charged in a "breathtaking" hack of JPMorgan and other major financial companies in a scheme that netted hundreds of millions of dollars.

Israelis Gery Shalon and Ziv Orenstein and US citizen Joshua Samuel Aaron face 23 counts over crimes targeting 12 firms.

The sprawling scheme, which began in 2007, also involved inflated stock prices, illegal online gambling and payment processing for criminals, say US prosecutors.

Another defendant, Anthony Murgio, of Florida, was indicted over an illegal bitcoin exchange operated as part of the scam.

"By any measure, the data breaches at these firms were breathtaking in scope and in size," US Attorney Preet Bharara said on Tuesday as he announced expanded charges in a case first unveiled in July.

"In a way, it was securities fraud on cyber steroids," he added.

Shalon and Aaron, both 31, are accused of last year's JPMorgan hack, which authorities said was the largest ever theft of customer data from a US financial institution.

Data from 83 million customer accounts was compromised in the cyber-breach via a rented computer server in Egypt.

News Corp (Other OTC: NWSAL - news) 's Dow Jones unit, E*Trade and TD Ameritrade Holding Corp said they were also targeted in the case.

The beefed-up charges depict Shalon as the mastermind of the scheme, which involved at least 75 shell companies.

He and Orenstein, 40, were also accused of having run at least 12 illegal internet casinos since 2007, generating millions of dollars of profit each month.

They allegedly collected $18m in fees, too, while processing hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions for criminals.

The defendants are further accused of using stolen data to sell stocks to unwitting victims in order to drive up prices.

Shalon also hid at least $100m in Swiss and other accounts, say authorities.

He is accused along with Orenstein and Aaron of hacking, fraud, identity theft, illegal internet gambling and money laundering conspiracy.