Two Virginia men previously convicted in a federal conspiracy case were arrested again after authorities said they attempted to delete government databases hosted by a federal contractor, as reported by Fox News.

The Justice Department announced Wednesday that twin brothers Muneeb and Sohaib Akhter, both 34, were indicted last month on charges related to allegedly accessing and destroying systems used to store U.S. government information.

According to the DOJ, the arrests follow earlier reporting from Bloomberg News in May that outlined how the brothers allegedly compromised data across several federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service and the General Services Administration.

The DOJ noted that this incident marks a continuation of misconduct dating back years. In 2015, both men pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges linked to breaches at the State Department and a cosmetics company, and each served several years in prison.

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After completing their prison sentences, the brothers became engineers for Opexus, a federal contractor that provides services for processing government records.

The DOJ said that after their employment with the contractor ended, the pair attempted to retaliate by accessing computers without authorization.

Prosecutors said they issued commands designed to prevent others from modifying databases, deleted data, stole information, and attempted to conceal their actions.

The indictment states that in February, Muneeb Akhter deleted nearly 100 databases containing U.S. government information.

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Some of the deleted records included Freedom of Information Act files managed by federal agencies and sensitive investigative materials belonging to federal government components.

Prosecutors said that roughly one minute after deleting a Department of Homeland Security database, Muneeb Akhter allegedly used an artificial intelligence tool to ask how to clear system logs following the deletion of databases.

Investigators also said the brothers discussed clearing out their home ahead of a possible police search. Company laptops assigned to them were wiped before being returned to the contractor.

The DOJ further alleges that after his termination, Muneeb Akhter accessed U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission information without authorization.

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He is also accused of stealing IRS data stored on a virtual machine, including federal tax details and other identifying information for at least 450 individuals.

The indictment additionally accuses Sohaib Akhter of trafficking a password that could be used to access a U.S. government computer.

"These defendants abused their positions as federal contractors to attack government databases and steal sensitive government information. Their actions jeopardized the security of government systems and disrupted agencies’ ability to serve the American people," Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the DOJ’s Criminal Division said in a statement.

Muneeb Akhter is charged with conspiracy to commit computer fraud and to destroy records, two counts of computer fraud, theft of U.S. government records, and two counts of aggravated identity theft.

Sohaib Akhter is charged with conspiracy to commit computer fraud and to destroy records, as well as computer fraud.

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