Ten charged over online theft from banks
Ten people have been charged by police investigating the theft of money from online bank accounts.
The charges of conspiracy to defraud and laundering money, follow the arrest of 19 people across the south east by the Met Police Central e-Crime Unit.
They are investigating the theft of at least ÂĢ6m from online accounts over the past three months allegedly using software to record bank log-in details.
The accused, from eastern Europe, are due before magistrates in London later.
Four banksEight of those who will appear in court are also charged with money laundering.
An eleventh person has been charged with offences under the Identity Cards Act 2005.
They are due to appear in custody at Camberwell Green Magistrates' Court.
Nine other people, six men and three women, who were arrested in connection with the investigation, have been bailed until next month.
Those charged with conspiracy to defraud and money laundering are Ukrainians Yuriy Korovalenko, 28; Yevhen Kulibaba, 32 and Roman Zenyk, 29.
Three are Latvians, Karina Kostromina, 33; Ivars Poikan, 29 and Kaspars Cliematnieks, 24.
A 27-year-old Estonian, Aleksander Kusner and Eduard Babaryka, 26, from Belarus, face the same charges.
Two Ukrainians, Milka Valerij, 29 and Iryna Prakochyk, 23, face a single charge of conspiracy to defraud. All the accused are registered as living in Chingford, Romford and Harlow in Essex.
A 34-year-old Georgian, Zurab Revazishvili, from Romford, was charged with identity offences under the 2005 Act.
Possible linksThe online operations of four banks, HSBC, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays Bank and Lloyds TSB, were allegedly targeted between 13 October 2009 and 28 September 2010, according to the charges.
And a couple of days ago the BBC reported this story. As the story says, the police are investigating whether there are links to these two stories.
Seven in southern England charged over money laundering
Seven men have been charged with allegedly laundering money stolen from online bank accounts.
They were arrested at addresses in Portsmouth and West Sussex on Tuesday morning, Hampshire Constabulary said.
A possible link between the raids and 20 arrests by the Met Police's Central e-Crime Unit over the theft of ÂĢ6m from online accounts is being investigated.
The accused, who are all Polish nationals, are due before Portsmouth Magistrates' Court later.
Detectives said the inquiries began after "irregular bank account activity".
A Hampshire police spokeswoman said they were arrested as part of Operation Aggregate, an investigation into a group which was believed to be operating as a cell of a larger organised crime gang.
Foreign exchange
The spokeswoman said: "The group is alleged to have accessed victims' online bank accounts and transferred money to accounts under their control.
"It is alleged that the men then used bank cards to withdraw the stolen cash at foreign exchange facilities.
"There are potential links between the Hampshire investigation and arrests made on Tuesday by the Metropolitan Police Central e-Crime Unit."
She added: "It is too early to comment further on this link at this time whilst this is under investigation."
The charged men are: Daniel Jarco, 30, of Market Street; Sebastian Stepka, 26, of Sandringham Way; Piotr Buscek, 31, of Leas Court; Krysztof Klatta, 29, of Abbotsbury; and Damien Grabowski, 26, of no fixed abode, who are all from the Bognor Regis area
Also charged are Marek Lach, 32, of St Augustine Road, Littlehampton, who is also known as Daniel Kwasniak, and Piotr Karolewski, 20, of Laburnum Grove, Portsmouth.
