A ringleader in theTJX credit card data breachhas been
jailed for five years.
Irving Escobar of Miami was also ordered to pay nearly £300,000
in restitution for leading the criminal operation that used
personally identifiable information stolen from the TJX data breach
in December 2006.
Although he was linked to this breach, which involved the theft
of 130,000 credit and debit card account details, he was not
charged with involvement with the much larger breach, which took
place in 2005.
That breach involved the theft of 45.7 million account details -
the biggest data breach in history.
Escobar and several co-defendants were prosecuted by the Florida
Attorney General's Office.
Police discovered a complex operation that was using counterfeit
cards with stolen credit card data.
Leading the operation, Escobar coordinated the use of these
cards to purchase gift cards at Wal-Mart or Sam's Club outlets.
The defendants then redeemed these gift cards to purchase
jewellery and electronic equipment - a modern-day version of money
laundering, said the Attorney General's Office.
Authorities estimated a total loss of £1.5m that could be
attributed to Escobar and his co-defendants on a nationwide scale.
He was arrested in March this year.
Escobar pleaded guilty to charges of being involved in an
organised scheme to defraud in March. His co-defendants also
pleaded guilty to similar charges involving organised fraud and
grand theft.
Co-defendants Dianelly Hernandez, Julio Alberti, Reinier Alvarez
and Zenia Llorente were all sentenced to probation in August.
Escobar's mother, Nair Alvarez, pleaded guilty in March and was
deported to Venezuela.
Police internationally are still investigating the
2005 TJX breach. Others may also be charged in connection with
the 2006 breach.