A federal judge in the United States territory of Guam denied a motion Thursday to release a Russian lawmaker's son accused of hacking computers inside hundreds of U.S. businesses, according to The Associated Press.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood ruled her court had jurisdiction over the case against Roman Seleznev and allowed it to move forward, even though his lawyers had filed a motion to dismiss, the AP reported.
Another ruling confirming Seleznev's identity cleared the way for him to be sent to the state of Washington, where documents filed in federal court in Seattle allege he hacked into retailers' computers, installed malicious software and stole credit card numbers from 2009 to 2011, according to the AP.
A 2011 grand jury indictment alleges Seleznev stole more than 200,000 credit card numbers and sold more than 140,000, generating more than $2 million in profits, the AP reported.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has accused the federal government of kidnapping Seleznev, the son of prominent Russian lawmaker Valery Seleznev, according to the AP. U.S. officials have declined to say how or where he was apprehended.
U.S. Secret Service Special Agent Daniel Schwandner, speaking by telephone, told the court he approached Seleznev in a tourist police station at the Maldives airport and asked if he was Seleznev, the AP reported.
Seleznev's girlfriend, Anna Otisko, said she was with him when he was grabbed by unknown men at an airport in the Maldives, a remote island nation in the Indian Ocean, according to the AP. He was then put on a plane to Guam in the western Pacific.
In court, the judge advised Seleznev of his rights, including his right to waive the identity hearing and his right to plead guilty or no contest, the AP reported. She also asked if he had met with the Russian consul, to which he replied yes in English.
The grand jury indicted Seleznev on charges of bank fraud, obtaining information from a protected computer, aggravated identity theft, trafficking in unauthorized access devices and possessing stolen credit card numbers, according to the AP. He's also charged in a similar but separate indictment in Nevada.
