The son of a Russian lawmaker was found guilty Thursday in the United States on charges of organizing a global hacking ring, in what a prosecutor called one of the most prolific credit card trafficking schemes in history.
Roman Seleznev, son of Russian lawmaker and Vladimir Putin ally Valery Seleznev, was found guilty in a court in Seattle, Washington, after a jury deliberated for less than two days.
The defendant was found guilty of 38 charges, including nine counts of hacking and 10 counts of wire fraud. At his sentencing December 2, he could receive up to 40 years in prison.
His exploits resulted in nearly $170 million in credit card losses, according to prosecutors.
Seleznev's attorney said he was facing similar charges in the U.S. states of Nevada and Georgia. The attorney, John Henry Browne, has vowed to appeal.
Seleznev was charged with running a hacking scheme in which he broke into restaurants' computer systems and stole credit card numbers. Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman Barbosa said during closing arguments Wednesday that Seleznev had run the scheme from his base in Vladivostok, Russia, using several online nicknames.
When he was arrested in the Maldives in 2014, investigators found 1.7 million stolen credit card numbers on his laptop, along with passwords to computer servers.
