US District Court Demands 30-Year Sentence for Suspected Russian Cyber Thief

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.

"In light of the massive profits generated from Seleznev's scheme and the difficulty of identifying and capturing international cybercriminals like Seleznev, a sentence of 30 years is necessary to afford adequate deterrence and protect the public from further crimes of defendant," the memorandum reads.

The Russian national is accused of 40 violations of four criminal articles related to cybercrimes.

Seleznev, 32, is to be sentenced in Seattle on April 21.

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 an act which went against all norms of international law.

Earlier in the day, Sputnik reported about a handwritten confession letter, in which the Russian citizen had pled guilty to a US District Court on credit card theft.

 

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