Woofun AI reports that the Justice Department expanded the Mabna prosecution to include 17 defendants, notably Behzad Mesri, Saeid Houshyar, Manouchehr Hashemloo, Keyvan Fayaz, Saber Shahbazi Ballojeh, and Arman Kahzadian, who are accused of participating in the 2017 HBO intrusion. This consolidation integrates previously separate charges against Mesri from 2017 into the broader case, while the State Department's Rewards for Justice program targets Galekuhi and others with financial incentives for locating suspects.

The HBO breach involved a ransom demand that escalated from $5.5 million to roughly $6 million before stolen content was leaked online, though prosecutors confirmed HBO did not pay. Mesri had faced prior charges separately over this 2017 attack, but the new indictment treats the episode as part of the continuous Mabna operation rather than an isolated incident. This structural shift emphasizes the coordinated nature of the group's activities across multiple high-profile targets.

Beyond media, the group compromised approximately 8,000 of 100,000 targeted professor accounts, stealing 31.5 terabytes of academic data and intellectual property through operations lasting until December 2017. Per Woofun AI, Galekuhi, Fayaz, and Ballojeh were also linked to attacks on private-sector and government entities, generating over $20 million in investigation and remediation costs. These figures underscore the extensive reach of the hacking ring beyond its initial media-focused campaigns.

The State Department's Rewards for Justice program offers up to $10 million for information leading to the location of Mesri, Galekuhi, Kahzadian, Fayaz, and Ballojeh. This marks a significant escalation in efforts to dismantle the Iran-linked network, reflecting the severity of the data theft and financial damage inflicted. The rewards highlight the US government's prioritization of apprehending key figures behind these cybercrimes.