A federal judge ordered a suspected Russian hacker be transferred from Guam to Seattle on Friday, where he was indicted in 2011 for allegedly hacking into point of sales systems at Washington restaurants, including a data breach in 2010 that involved stealing credit card information from hundreds of customers of Capitol Hill’s Broadway Grill.Court documents do not indicate when Roman Seleznev, 30, will arrive stateside or when he will next appear in court. The details of Seleznev’s transfer will remain confidential until he arrives in Seattle and an arraignment is scheduled, said a Department of Justice official.
Seleznev was indicted in 2011 but wasn’t taken into custody until July 5th. DOJ representatives won’t say how the suspect was ultimately captured or how he ultimately arrived in Guam.
The arrest of Seleznev, the son of a member of Russia’s Duma, set off international protest as his home nation called his seizure a kidnapping part of a string of disputes with the US over cybercrime.
According to the 2011 indictment, Seleznev’s hack of the Broadway Grill point of sale system resulted in at least $1.7 million in losses to banks and credit card companies.
Seleznev’s charges include five counts of bank fraud, eight counts of intentionally causing damage to a protected computer, eight counts of obtaining information from a protected computer, one count of possession of unauthorized access devices, and two counts of trafficking those devices. He also faces five counts of aggravated identity theft.
On Friday, the Guam-based federal judge also denied a motion from the defense to have Seleznev released from custody.
By Bryan Cohen (Capitolhillseattle)
