Years in jail for defendants in German 'cyberbunker' trial

Eight people were found guilty in Germany on Monday in a trial surrounding the criminal use of a secret computer centre, described by prosecutors as one of the largest cybercrime trials the country had ever seen, reported dpa.

The 62-year-old leader of the group was handed a sentence of five years and nine months in jail.

The trial of eight defendants - seven men and one woman - had lasted a year. They were convicted of forming a criminal organization and aiding and abetting about 250,000 crimes carried out through the computer centre.

A senior member of the group was given two years and six months' jail time, and another - the son of the gang leader - was sentenced to four years and three months.

The remaining defendants received sentences of up to three years, apart from one who was handed a one-year suspended sentence.

The underground facility in an old bunker in Traben-Trabach, a small town on the Mosel river in western Germany, was raided at the end of September 2019. The operation involved hundreds of police officers and took place only after five years of investigation.

The crimes carried out through the computer centre included drug deals worth millions on the darknet, but also cyber-attacks and counterfeit money transactions.

More than 100 witnesses testified during the trial.