US jury finds Russian credit card hacker guilty

A US jury finds a Russian hacker guilty of, among other things, stealing information from a computer and identity theft. What punishment the Russian will receive will only be known later.

After a week-and-a-half trial, the jury ruled ‘guilty’ on 38 of the 40 charges, The Seattle Times reported. The jury found only the hack on a pizzeria not sufficiently proven. Roman Seleznev was found guilty on all other charges, mainly related to credit card fraud. He could face up to 34 years in prison. The judge will pronounce the sentence on December 2.

The Russian, the son of a member of parliament, had to appear in court after his notorious arrest two years ago in the Maldives archipelago. Police arrested him at the insistence of the US when he wanted to fly back after a luxury vacation. After his arrest by the local police, Seleznev was labeled as unwanted and handed over to two American agents. They flew the Russian to Guam, an island that is in American hands. The transfer is striking, because officially there is no extradition treaty between the Maldives and the US.

Seleznev has long been wanted by US law enforcement agencies. He would be responsible for large-scale trade in stolen credit card data and identity theft. He is said to have collected this data using hacks and the installation of malware on cash register systems of American retail chains, while the Russian traded credit card data via online forums.

Due to his Russian nationality, the hacker remained out of reach of the Americans for a long time, while Seleznev led a luxurious lifestyle and had accumulated at least 18 million dollars, approximately 17.1 million euros, in his bank accounts. The Russian’s arrest sparked a furious reaction from the Kremlin. They claimed that Seleznev was kidnapped by the US.