[Guardian] Russian authorities have reacted with anger over the "kidnapping" of the son of a Russian MP, apparently detained by US agents in the Maldives,
| ...the Maldives is a U.S. territory? Who knew... |
on suspicion of hacking computer systems in order to steal the credit card details of thousands of Americans.
The US department of homeland security announced on Monday that the secret service had arrested Roman Seleznev on suspicion of hacking activities carried out between 2009 and 2011. He is the son of Valery Seleznev, an MP from the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic arty, whose leader has frequently made anti-American outbursts.
Russia's foreign ministry said that Seleznev was seized by US officials as he attempted to board a plane in the Maldives, and was instead forcefully transferred to another plane, from where he was flown to the US Pacific island of Guam.
| First, did the Maldivean authorities cooperate? If so, the Russian's complaint is with them. Second, why Guam and not Gitmo or Ice Station Zebra? |
US authorities gave no details of the detention of Seleznev, except to say that the suspected hacker was arrested in Guam, where he faced a court on Monday. Seleznev, who was indicted in Washington state in March 2011 on charges that include bank fraud and identity theft, could face decades in prison if found guilty on all counts. He is accused of stealing the details of tens of thousands of credit card users from a number of restaurants and small businesses in the US and trading the information online.
| So we went to the Maldives to nab a credit card hacker. And we can't control our borders. Shrewd, very shrewd... |
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