Son of Russian lawmaker pleads guilty in credit card theft scheme

Roman Seleznev, the son of a Russian lawmaker, pleaded guilty on Friday to charges in Georgia and Nevada related to his role in a credit card theft scheme.

Seleznev, 33, the son of Russian parliament member Valery Seleznev, was sentenced in April in Washington state to 27 years in prison for hacking into computers to steal credit card numbers. 

He admitted as part of his Nevada plea to being a member of the Carder.su credit card theft forums and running a stolen credit card sales site, ultimately costing victims more than $50 million.

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In Georgia, Seleznev admitted to being a “casher” in a scheme to steal credit card numbers from an Atlanta-based credit card processor.

Cashers use the credit cards at ATMs to withdraw money. The outfit allegedly stole more than 45 million credit card numbers and withdrew more than $9 million from ATMs in 280 cities worldwide in around 12 hours. 

Seleznev was arrested on vacation in the Maldives in 2014 and was flown to Guam in what his lawyers and father described more akin to a kidnapping than arrest. 

According to Russian media, three former FSB agents and one researcher with the Moscow-based cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab charged with treason were charged for helping U.S. authorities capture Seleznev and others.