MOSCOW, August 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russian citizen Roman Seleznev will be held in federal custody until the court trial takes place in October, according to the statement from Western District of Washington attorney Jenny A. Durkan.
“Accused Russian hacker Roman Seleznev was ordered to be held in federal custody today pending trial scheduled for October 2014,” the statement said.
Seleznev’s defense asked to place him under house arrest in a furnished apartment in Seattle on a bond of $1 million secured by $100,000 in cash. However, the request was rejected due to Seleznev’s frequent international travels, large amounts of money in bank accounts around the world and computer savviness that could allow him to create false identity documents in order to flee.
“There are no conditions or combination of conditions other than detention that will reasonably assure the appearance of defendant as required or ensure the safety of the community,” the detention order stated.
The detention order noted that there was no extradition treaty between Russia and the United States, while the evidence against Seleznev was very strong – his computer was found to contain 2.1 million stolen credit card numbers. Also, the analysis showed that in the days before his arrest, the Russian citizen searched for his name or online nicknames in the electronic filing system for the US federal courts.
Roman Seleznev was accused by the United States of cyber fraud and stealing credit card and personal information of US citizens. He was detained on July 5 by the US security services in the Maldives and transferred to the US island of Guam, and then to Seattle.
Seleznev’s defense asked for his release, saying that he was illegally detained outside the US jurisdiction. The prosecution insisted the Russian national was arrested in Guam but did not explain how he got there from the Maldives. Seleznev currently faces up to 30 years in prison.
