Two charged over London-based '£1m cyber theft'
Two people from north London have been charged with stealing £1m from two banks via bogus mails carrying viruses.
Gediminas Simkus, 31, from East Barnet, and Volodymyr Kurach, 31, from Highbury, are accused of conspiring to commit fraud by false representation, Scotland Yard said.
The men will also face three further fraud charges at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday.
Two arrested women, aged 24 and 27, have been released on bail.
Metropolitan Police officers raided properties in north London on Tuesday after bank customers were targeted with the emails.
The police said they recovered £80,000 and a live hand grenade in the operation.
The emails, which appeared to be legitimate communications from the banks, harboured malware which siphoned off the money from customers' accounts.
Bank customers in London and across the UK were affected.
Det Ch Insp Jason Tunn, from Scotland Yard's cyber crime unit, said: "The victims have been hoodwinked by malware-carrying emails purporting to be from their banks, and subsequently had money taken from their accounts."