Five Venezuelans Plead Guilty to ATM Jackpotting Scheme in US

Five Venezuelan nationals pleaded guilty in a US federal court to conspiracy to commit bank larceny through an ATM jackpotting scheme targeting locations in Kansas. The defendants—Luis Alberto Velasquez-Artigas (27), Royder Adrian Figuera-Perez (29), Javier Mejia Jr. (27), Gabriel Alexjandro Corales-Garcia (33), and Italo Lizandro Corrales-Carrillo (26)—traveled from Indiana to Wamego and Manhattan, Kansas, in December 2025 to execute the operation, according to court documents reviewed by the US Department of Justice.

The group planned to physically install malware on targeted ATMs and then remotely activate the payload to force the machines to dispense cash. Both attempts were unsuccessful, but the suspects were identified through ATM surveillance footage and arrested days later. Velasquez-Artigas has been sentenced to nine months in federal prison, while the remaining four defendants are awaiting sentencing.

FBI Kansas City Special Agent in Charge Chris Ormerod described the case as part of a growing national trend, noting that jackpotting incidents have escalated sharply across the United States. An FBI advisory issued in February 2026 reported more than 1,900 ATM jackpotting incidents since 2020, with over 700 cases recorded in 2025 alone—resulting in losses exceeding $20 million. In a separate but related case, 27-year-old Venezuelan national Juan Manuel Gouveia-Aguilera was sentenced last week to 96 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for his role in a similar ATM jackpotting conspiracy.

Financial institutions and ATM operators can strengthen defenses by routinely auditing exposed endpoints with a port scanner and verifying banking communications with a SSL/TLS checker. Security teams should also enforce strict physical access controls on ATM internals and run a privacy checkup to detect any unauthorized hardware or network tampering at terminal locations.