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US Arrests Son of Russian MP In Maldives For Hacking

Posted by timothy on from the by-coincidence dept.

First time accepted submitter ugen (93902) writes "The son of a Russian lawmaker has been arrested by the U.S. on charges of selling credit card information he stole by hacking into the computers of American retailers. Roman Seleznev, 30, was arrested overseas by the U.S. Secret Service on July 5 and was ordered detained today during a hearing in federal court in Guam, the Justice Department said in a statement."

8 of 176 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Guam is in the Maldives now? by Wulfstan · · Score: 5, Informative

    Replying to myself - as it turns out, the plot thickens:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

    --
    --- Nick, hard at work :->
  2. Hm... by thieh · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Since when did the US got power to arrest people in Maldives? Does that mean they can just go into arbitrary countries and arrest people arbitrarily?

  3. Kidnapping. by Talonius · · Score: 4, Interesting

    When I had heard that the Russians were calling this kidnapping, I was doubtful -- but now, not so sure. We really do exact our justice anywhere we want to, don't we?

    What happened to extradition treaties and such? When did it become "stuff them in a van and drive!"?

    --
    My reality check bounced.
    1. Re:Kidnapping. by benjfowler · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The Russians are masters of passive aggression when it comes to law enforcement when it suits them: the place is corrupt from top to bottom, and it manifests itself in a complete lack of desire to cooperate in international law enforcement. They have a convenient clause in their constitution which lets them refuse to extradite anybody, no matter what -- but is only exercised when it suits them.

      Not arresting Russia's own cybercriminals is just another way for the notoriously erratic and thin-skinned Putin to poke the West in the eye and annoy us.

    2. Re:Kidnapping. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Sounds just like the United States.

  4. Imperial Police by mbone · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What in the hell are the US police doing arresting anyone in a foreign country? Is the Maldives part of the empire now?

    And, yes, the Russians are totally correct in calling this kidnapping. Look for some poor American tourist or businessman to be nabbed in a tit-for-tat.

    1. Re:Imperial Police by BigSlowTarget · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well they don't want to go arrest people in Mexico. It's dangerous down there and besides the Maldives have great beaches.

  5. Hate to break it to you ... by Ihlosi · · Score: 4, Insightful
    The Russians are masters of passive aggression when it comes to law enforcement when it suits them: the place is corrupt from top to bottom, and it manifests itself in a complete lack of desire to cooperate in international law enforcement. They have a convenient clause in their constitution which lets them refuse to extradite anybody, no matter what -- but is only exercised when it suits them.

    I hate to break it to you, but the phrase above remains true if you replace "Russians" with any country powerful enough to get away with this kind of behavior.