MOSCOW, July 8 (RIA Novosti) – A Russian lawmaker claims that he is unable to contact his son, who was arrested in the US on cybercrime charges. "My son could not be arrested in the United States because he could not physically be there. He does not have a US visa, I know this for sure," State Duma lawmaker from the Liberal Democratic Party Valery Seleznev told RIA Novosti. At the same time, Seleznev has not ruled that his son, Roman, was abducted.
"If Roman was kidnapped, then he could be in the US, just like any other man. I’m also unaware of any procedures regarding my son," the lawmaker said. Seleznev added that Roman currently lives in Vladivostok, but that he could not contact him.
On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that US authorities accused 30-year-old Moscow native Roman Seleznev of hacking into point-of-sale systems at a number of US shops to steal credit card data from customers.
The investigators claim the Russian citizen installed malware on computers in the shops to obtain the necessary information. The agency said Roman is currently awaiting trial on the US island of Guam.
