Russian National Confesses to Major Credit Card Fraud in Letter to US Court

PORTLAND (Sputnik), David Burghardt – Roman Seleznev, a native from Russia's Far Eastern region of Vladivostok, was arrested by US Secret Service agents in the Maldives in 2014 and transported to Seattle, Washington to face court on suspicions of cybercrimes that affected hundreds of businesses and thousands of individuals in Washington. Overall some 3 million credit cards were suspected of being stolen by Seleznev, though the court was able to prove only 1.7 million stolen cards.

"I do accept full responsibility for everything. I am afraid of my punishment, but I am relieved to have finally got caught as the life of criminal is no good life at all," Seleznev wrote in English.

Prosecutors in the US District Court in Seattle have demanded Seleznev serve 30 years in prison for his crimes. Seleznev, 32, is set to be sentenced on April 21.

Seleznev admitted in his 11-page letter that he had made many poor choices in his lifetime and should have used his abilities to help mankind, but lost his way and became "selfish and greedy."

"Nobody or nothing I can blame except me! I did this and now I will answer for my crimes as a man," Seleznev said.

Seleznev's arrest in the Maldives and extradition to the United States was greatly criticized by the Russian Foreign Ministry, which defined Seleznev's detention as kidnapping and against all norms of international law.

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