The son of a Russian MP has pleaded guilty in the US to being part of a $50m cybercrime racket.
Roman Seleznev, 33, admitted to being part of an online criminal marketplace called Carder.su, which specialised in selling stolen credit card details and identity theft.
Seleznev has already been sentenced to 27 years in prison by a federal court in Washington for breaking into US businesses to steal credit card information, which he subsequently sold on to others to commit frauds.
He was also ordered to pay $170m in damages.
He was selling such a large volume of card details he created an automated website allowing customers to log in and search for the particular type of card information they wanted to buy.
Seleznev is the son of Russian parliamentarian Valery Seleznev, a member of the far-right Liberal Democratic Party.
Speaking in Moscow, the father accused Washington of “abducting” his son when he was arrested by US Secret Service agents in the Maldives in 2014.
Seleznev’s lawyer Igor Litvak said while admitting the latest charges, his client plans to appeal his Washington conviction.
Mr Litvak said: “We still feel the way he was brought to the U.S. was illegal. He was basically kidnapped.”
Carder.su was targeted by law enforcement agencies in Operation Open Market, which has charged 55 individuals with involvement in the cybercrime ring.
Of those charged, 33 have been convicted while the others are either fugitives or pending trial
Source: today.ng
