The Latest: Russian convicted of hacking into US businesses

SEATTLE – The Latest on the case of a Russian man accused of hacking into U.S. businesses (all times local):

11:55 a.m.

A Russian man accused of orchestrating an international online theft scheme has been found guilty of hacking into U.S. businesses to steal credit card information.

A jury on Thursday convicted Roman Seleznev of 38 charges, including nine counts of hacking and 10 counts of wire fraud. He could face up to 34 years in prison when he’s sentenced Dec. 2.

Prosecutors say Seleznev made millions by hacking into businesses, mostly pizza restaurants in Washington state, and selling the data on underground internet forums.

Seleznev, son of a Russian lawmaker, was accused of running the scheme from 2010 until his 2014 arrest.

His lawyers say prosecutors failed to make a solid link between the hacks and Seleznev. They also challenged the evidence taken from his laptop, arguing the U.S. Secret Service mishandled the computer when they seized it.

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1:25 a.m.

A jury is weighing whether the son of a Russian lawmaker hacked into U.S. businesses to steal credit card information and made millions selling the data to criminals.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman Barbosa said Wednesday that Roman Seleznev was a prolific hacker. The jury began deliberating following closing arguments just after noon and was released for the day at 4:30 p.m. They’ll start back at 9 a.m. Thursday.

They must decide whether Seleznev is guilty of 40 charges that range from bank and wire fraud, hacking and identity theft.

The victim businesses that form the basis of the charges, mostly pizza restaurants in Washington state, had to spend tens of thousands of dollars to fix their computers and lost business and customer trust because of the hacks, prosecutors said. The thefts resulted in almost $170 million in credit card losses around the world, Barbosa said.

But the defence accused the agents involved in the investigation of tampering with the defendant’s laptop computer after his arrest.