Alleged Russian Hacker Seleznev Faces Fraud Charges in US - Justice Department

Alleged Russian hacker Roman Seleznev is facing federal cyber fraud charges in the United States over the 2008 attack and theft of banking credentials from the US-based company RBS Worldpay, the US Department of Justice said in a release on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Roman Seleznev was convicted in August 2016 of 38 counts of hacking crimes. He was accused of defrauding small business and financial institutions in the United States of more than $169 million.

"Roman Seleznev, of Vladivostok, Russia, has been arraigned on federal cyber fraud charges associated with the 2008 hack and theft of banking credentials from RBS Worldpay, a payment processing company located in Atlanta, Georgia. Seleznev was indicted by a federal grand jury on Dec. 22, 2014," the release stated.

In 2008, a team of hackers from 280 cities around the world stole more than $9 million from 2,100 ATMs globally.

"The defendant is alleged to have stolen over $2,000,000 as part of that scheme," US Attorney John Horn stated in the release.

On April 21, a US District Court sentenced Seleznev to 27 years in prison.

Seleznev was arrested by CIA agents in the Maldives and brought to the United States. The Russian Foreign Ministry and his father, a Russian lawmaker, said this was illegal and equaled a kidnapping.