Federal authorities in San Antonio, Tex. have uncovered an international theft ring that targeted thousands of veterans and their dependents – taking their personal information to steal millions of dollars in benefits.

A 14-count indictment charged five suspects with coordinating an identity-theft ring targeting service members and veterans.

According to a news report, the fraud scheme begin in 2014 when a civilian employee at a U.S. Army installation, stole thoughts of military members' PII, including names, dates of birth, social security numbers and Department of Defense identification numbers. He gave the information to another individual, who used the stolen information to compromise a Department of Defense portal that enables military members to access their benefits online.

"Our veterans were willing to risk everything to protect this country from foreign threats, and now they were being threatened by a conspiracy operating abroad, so now its our turn to repay their sacrifice to make sure we bring justice to them for having their information and in some cases their money stolen by a foreign conspiracy," said John Bash, U.S. Attorney, Western District of Texas.