In Brief: Fraud Ring Member Sentenced to 3 Years

A member of a Russian computer ring that fraudulently transferred $10 million from Citicorp to their own accounts in 1994 was sentenced Tuesday to 36 months in prison.

Vladimir Levin, 30, pled guilty in January to the fraud scheme in which Citibank customer passwords and codes were used to transfer funds to accounts ring members controlled in Finland, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, and the United States.

Mr. Levin, who is said to be the ringleader, is the third of five alleged co-conspirators to be sentenced as a result of the two-and- a-half-year investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Attorney, and Citicorp.

The fraud came to light when the bank noticed $400,000 in unauthorized account withdrawals, a Citicorp spokesman said.

The bank and the FBI set up a sting operation, allowing the fraud ring to transfer nearly $10 million and then tracking withdrawals until the co- conspirators could be arrested.

John Morris, the bank spokesman, said Citicorp recovered all but $400,000 of that money and that no customers lost money. The bank's funds transfer computer systems have also been updated with new security measures, he said.