Roman Seleznev is the son of a lawmaker in the Russian State Duma

Jul 9, 2014 12:18 GMT  ·  By

In the wake of the arrest of Russian national Roman Valerevich Seleznev by the U.S. Secret Service for multiple cybercrime-related charges, the Russian Foreign Ministry accuses the U.S. of kidnapping.

According to ITAR-TASS news agency, the 30-year-old hacker is the son of a State Duma member representing the Liberal Democratic Party, Valery Seleznev.

He confirmed the arrest of his son by the U.S. Secret Service in the Republic of the Maldives. It appears that the hacker was traveling through Maldive when he was arrested at the Male International Airport and taken to Guam Island.

“I am now in negotiations with the Russian Foreign Ministry. Kidnapping is a crime,” Seleznev senior told the agency. “The country must protect its citizens, and Roman should go back to Russia,” he added.

The Russian Foreign Ministry declared for the agency that this “is not the first time that the US kidnaps a Russian citizen ignoring the 1999 mutual legal assistance agreement,” and that a similar incident occurred in the case of two other Russian nationals, who were brought by force into the United States and convicted on questionable charges.

The two citizens are Viktor Bout and Konstantin Yaroshenko, convicted for attempted drug smuggling and conspiracy.

Russian Foreign Ministry also condemns the Maldives’ authorities for allowing “another country's special service to kidnap a Russian citizen and take him out of the country.” The diplomats are making all efforts to return Roman Valerevich Seleznev to Russia as soon as possible.

Roman Seleznev was apprehended on July 5 and placed under arrest in Guam. According to the indictment, he used online aliases such “Track2,” “nCuX,” “Bulba,” “smaus,” and “shmak,” and was a prominent figure on the carding underground, as he operated multiple servers and carding forums where stolen credit and debit card information was being sold.

The Western District of Washington charged him in absentia in March 2011 with a total of 29 counts, ranging from bank fraud (five), intentionally causing damage to a protected computer (eight) and obtaining information from a protected computer (eight), to possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices (one), trafficking in unauthorized access devices (two), and aggravated identity theft (five).

These charges alone amount to at least 65 years in prison and a total fine of $2,75 million / €2 million. According to the indictment document, Seleznev’s cybercriminal activity extended between October 2009 and February 2011.

Seleznev’s hearing has been scheduled for July 22, 2014.