31 Jul 2014

Russian cyber-crime suspect to be sent from Guam to US mainland

7:38 pm on 31 July 2014

A federal judge on Guam has denied a motion to discharge a Russian cyber-crime suspect who says he was kidnapped by the US government while on holiday and brought to the island.

Roman Seleznev is being held on Guam after he was seized by American secret agents earlier this month while on holiday in the Maldives, forced onto a plane and flown to the US territory before being arrested.

The Pacific Daily News reports that Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood denied a motion put forward by Mr Seleznev's lawyers, which argued that the way in which he was brought to Guam breached international law.

The judgement means that Mr Seleznev - who's accused of being the mastermind behind a massive credit card hacking scam - is likely to be sent to the US state of Washington to face trial.