Image copyright EPA Image caption The thieves used malware to withdraw bags of cash from 41 ATMS in three cities

Three Eastern European men have been jailed in Taiwan over the theft of $2.6m (£2.1m) from cash machines around the island.

They are part of a network of criminals who used malware to hack into 41 First Commercial Bank machines in three different cities in July last year.

CCTV showed offenders walking away with bags of cash, though most of the money was recovered shortly afterwards.

Police in Thailand believe the case is linked to a similar theft there.

'Public panic'

Latvian Andrejs Peregudovs, Mihail Colibaba from Romania and Niklae Penkov from Moldova were all convicted by a Taipei court of causing damage to the public by breaching computer security.

Prosecutors had sought 12-year jail terms, saying the actions "seriously disrupted financial order and caused public panic".

In response to the heist, banks temporarily froze withdrawals from more than 1,000 cash machines.

Another 19 suspects, including one French national and one Australian, are believed to have fled Taiwan.