Russian Hacker Extradited From Finland Pleads Guilty To U.S. Charges

WASHINGTON -- A Russian man extradited from Finland two years ago on computer-fraud charges has pleaded guilty to spreading malicious software and netting millions of dollars for himself.

The U.S. Justice Department said on March 28 that Maksim Senakh would be sentenced in the case in August.

Senakh was arrested in Finland in 2015 at U.S. authorities' request and extradited to face U.S criminal charges.

His arrest prompted an angry protest by Russia's Foreign Ministry, which called the move illegal.

The ministry has repeatedly objected to arrests of Russian citizens in other countries at the behest of U.S. authorities, warning of what it said were "kidnappings" by U.S. officials.

Several of those Russians targeted for arrest in recent years have been computer hackers like Senakh.

Yevgeny Nikulin, who was arrested in January, is being held in Prague as U.S. and Russian authorities fight for his extradition.

Roman Seleznyov, the son of a Russian lawmaker, is scheduled to be sentenced in a federal court in Washington state next month on cyberfraud and other charges. He was arrested in July 2014 in the Maldives and sent to the United States.