Crime & Safety

Roman Seleznev Gets Nearly 30 Years In Hacking Case

Roman Seleznev, the son of a Russian member of parliament, hacked credit card data from restaurants in Washington and across the U.S.

SEATTLE, WA - Roman Seleznev, the son of a member of Russian Parliament, was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison on Friday morning, according to multiple reports. Seleznev, 32, was convicted in August of hacking activity that caused $170 million in losses for restaurants around Washington and in other parts of the U.S.

Seleznev was convicted at the end of August for stealing credit card data from a number of Washington state pizzerias (including restaurants in Anacortes, Duluth, Yelm, and Mad Pizza in Seattle), plus the Phoenix Zoo, a deli in Idaho, multiple stores in Evanston, Ill., a theater near the Grand Canyon, and the Broadway Grill on Capitol Hill. Roman Seleznev was arrested in 2014.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle, beginning in 2009, Seleznev began stealing credit card data from customers of Boeing Employees' Credit Union (BECU), Chase, Citibank, Capitol One, and Keybank. Seleznev installed viruses that stole credit card information from point-of-sale terminals; he then sold that data on Internet forums, according to the indictment.

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Seleznev stole some 32,000 credit card numbers from the Broadway Grill alone, according to the indictment.

Roman Seleznev is the son of Valery Seleznev, who, as a member of parliament, is described as an ally of Vladamir Putin.

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