14 DAY TRIAL // During a bail hearing on Friday for Roman Valerevich Seleznev, prosecutors revealed that a laptop computer containing 2.1 million stolen credit card numbers was seized from the defendant.
Roman Seleznev is the son of a State Duma member representing the Liberal Democratic Party, Valery Seleznev, and is accused of breaching point-of-sale system of US retailers and trading financial information on forums under his control.
At the moment, there is no information about the source of the credit card numbers on his laptop, or if they were to be sold to cybercriminals on underground forums.
According to Q13 FOX, the lawyers of the defendant asked for Seleznev to be placed under house arrest in a furnished apartment in Seattle, on a $1 million (€747,000) bond secured by $100,000 / €75,000 in cash.
However, the US Magistrate James P. Donohue denied the bail on the grounds that Seleznev presents a serious flight risk, as he has no ties to Western Washington, where the court holding the trial is located.
More importantly, the hacker is known to have travelled internationally on a frequent basis and has the necessary knowledge for forging false identification documents that would permit him to cross the border.
“Today was another important step in ensuring the charges against this defendant are tried in this community,” U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan was quoted by the publication. “The defendant is entitled to every protection offered by our system, but will be afforded no special privileges. Our investigation into the scope of defendant’s actions is ongoing,” she added.
Roman Seleznev was charged by the Western District of Washington in absentia in March 2011 with a total of 29 counts that included bank fraud, hacking into protected computers, possession on unauthorized devices and trafficking unauthorized devices.
If found guilty on all counts, the maximum penalty he faces is of at least 65 years of jail time and payment of a fine totaling $2.75 million / €2 million.
The hacker was arrested on July 5 by the US Secret Service at the Male International Airport in Maldives and taken immediately to a US facility in Guam Island.
This operation is considered by the Russian government as a kidnapping act and authorities in Maldives should not have allowed “another country's special service to kidnap a Russian citizen and take him out of the country.”
The date of Seleznev’s trial has been set for October 6, 2014, and the defendant will plead “not guilty” to the charges.