Jailed cybercriminals returned to Russia in historic prisoner swap 

A blockbuster prisoner exchange between the United States, Russia and Germany on Thursday included at least two prominent cybercriminals held by the U.S. on charges of financially motivated cybercrime and hacking to facilitate insider trading. 

The prisoners were part of a deal that freed 16 people from Russia, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.

A White House spokesperson confirmed that as part of the deal, the U.S. released convicted Russian cybercriminals Roman Seleznev and Vladislav Klyushin.

Seleznev is a notorious Russian hacker known for running extensive cybercrime operations. He was involved in numerous cyberattacks, including credit card fraud, theft, and selling stolen credit card information on “Carder.su,” a cybercriminal forum ring. Seleznev conducted his criminal activities under the alias “Track2” and “nCux.” He is the son of Valery Seleznev, a prominent member of the Russian Duma, the country’s parliament.

Seleznev was sentenced in 2017 to 27 years in prison for his involvement in a massive credit-card computer fraud scheme. 

Klyushin was extradited to the U.S. for his involvement in an elaborate hack-to-trade scheme that netted approximately $93 million through securities trades based on confidential corporate information stolen from U.S. computer networks. With insider knowledge of companies’ financial performance, Klyushin and his co-conspirators predicted stock price movements and traded on stolen information. They used accounts in multiple countries, including Cyprus, Denmark, Portugal, Russia, and the U.S., misleading brokerage firms about their activities.

Klyushin was convicted in February 2023 and in September 2023 sentenced to nine years in prison. 

Maksim Nemtsev, Klyushin’s attorney, confirmed to CyberScoop that the swap, including Klyushin, was complete. “I expect he will be home with his wife and children shortly,” Nemtsev said in an email.

The two were released as part of a large-scale prisoner exchange that experts are saying is the biggest swap since the end of the Cold War. 

President Joe Biden called the deal “a feat of diplomacy,” and said it came about as a result of “complex negotiations” that included the U.S., Russia, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey.