German prosecutors say 3 arrested in Netherlands in connection to $45 million cyber heist

BERLIN – German prosecutors say three suspects in a global cyber-bank heist that netted some $45 million have been arrested in the Netherlands.

Duesseldorf prosecutors' spokesman Christoph Kumpa confirmed Der Spiegel magazine's report Friday that the three were arrested Tuesday in The Hague on a European arrest warrant from his office.

In December 2012 and February 2013, crime ring members in 27 countries allegedly used stolen prepaid MasterCard debit card numbers — whose limits hackers had raised — to withdraw the millions from ATM machines. Several have already been arrested worldwide and two already convicted in Duesseldorf.

Spiegel reported one of the three arrested Tuesday is thought to have headed the German part of the heist, where some $2.44 million was stolen.

Dutch authorities had no immediate comment on extradition.