WASHINGTON, July 14 (RAPSI) – The Russian consular staff on Monday visited Roman Seleznev, a Russian national arrested in the US on fraud charges, in Guam, a consular employee told RIA Novosti in San Francisco.
He said they had also met with Seleznev’s attorneys and with US authorities and planned to hold a second meeting with Seleznev today. The source said there were no additional details at this point.
The Russian diplomats planned to inspect Seleznev’s containment conditions, ask if he had any complaints and possibly learn more details in the case that could be important for his defense.
Moscow-born Roman Seleznev, 30, has been charged with hacking into retail cash register systems to install malicious software to steal credit card numbers and with operating servers and international carding forum websites to facilitate the theft and sale of stolen credit card data. He was arrested on the Maldive Islands and taken to Guam for an initial court hearing on July 22.
If Seleznev is convicted, he could spend up to 30 years in prison and could be fined up to $3 million.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Roman Seleznev’s arrest outside the United States and his transfer to the US was “an unfriendly move.”
Valery Seleznev, the father of Roman and a State Duma deputy from the Liberal Democratic Party, said that his son, who received a serious brain injury after a terrorist attack in Morocco in 2011, could die in custody if denied medical care.