Overview
- Angelo Martino, 41, of Florida, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy by extortion for helping ALPHV/BlackCat, a ransomware-as-a-service gang, target U.S. companies in 2023.
- While assigned to five victims as a negotiator, he leaked clients’ insurance limits and internal bargaining positions to the attackers to push for higher payments, and he took money for the tips.
- Martino also admitted working with Ryan Goldberg and Kevin Martin to deploy BlackCat ransomware between April and November 2023, including a $1.2 million bitcoin haul they split and laundered.
- Investigators have seized about $10 million in assets tied to Martino, and he faces up to 20 years with sentencing set for July 9, while his co-defendants are set for sentencing on April 30.
- Prosecutors’ filings describe more than $75 million in ransom payments across the insider-tainted cases, including nearly $26.8 million from a nonprofit and $25.7 million from a financial firm, as law enforcement’s broader crackdown also disrupted BlackCat in December 2023 and released a decryptor.