Seen with his young family, then paraded in handcuffs, this is Pyotr Levashov, an alleged Russian cyber spam kingpin held in Spain, suspected by the FBI of hacking the U.S. election.

His wife Maria Levashova has told the Russian media how the 36-year-old was detained on a U.S. arrest warrant after police smashed their way into an apartment the family had rented in Barcelona.

Cyber security experts claim that computer programmer Levashov is also the real identity of Peter Severa, the designer of malware used in a number of high profile spam attacks including an online onslaught against a Vladimir Putin foe during the Russian election of 2012.

Spanish police handcuffed her husband and seized computers and electronic devices from the apartment which they were using while on holiday, she said.

The country's Policia Nacional, its equivalent of the FBI, later released a pictures of Levashov being escorted by its officers, saying they had arrested a 'most-wanted cybercriminal' in conjunction with the FBI and that he was accused of fraud and the theft of data.

This is the first picture of Pyotr Levashov, an alleged Russian cyber spam kingpin held in Spain, suspected by the FBI of hacking the U.S. election

Announcement: The Policia National, Spain's equivalent of the FBI, released a picture of its officers taking away Levashov, saying he was a 'most wanted cyber criminal'

Peter Carr, a spokesman for the U.S. Justice Department's criminal division, said: 'The U.S. case remains under seal, so we have no information to provide at this time.'

The alleged hacker's wife said the family, including the couple's four-year-old son, were in the apartment when the police came.

'They were saying something about a virus allegedly created by my husband - and that it was linked to Trump's victory,' she said.

'They did not allow us to call a lawyer.'

She said: 'I am just in shock and I don't know what to do.

'I only understand that if my husband is extradited to the USA, my son and I will never see him again.

'They will fake all they want and will never let him out.

'Pyotr was working with various start-ups in Russia and with some other business projects, I did not intervene. We have run an events agency.'

Alexander Ionov, vice president of the Russian department of the International Human Rights Committee, said 'the police confiscated all electronic devices from Pyotr and Maria without official witnesses'

She claimed: 'My husband does not have enough knowledge to intervene in elections or computer networks of other countries.'

His detention was 'something irrational, a nightmare', she said.

When police arrived, she said: 'I woke up because somebody was pulling the door handle.

'I thought these were gangsters, because they closed the spy hole in the door.

'We could not see how many people were there. It was so frightening. I thought they would break the door and kill all of us here.

'There were no calls, no shouts that it was police. They were just breaking the door. I rushed the child into his room to protect him .'

She said: 'They ordered us all onto the floor - and my four-year-old son was watching this. They put all of us on the floor - and my child was watching all this.

'They did not answer my questions, they locked me with my child and a friend into one room.

'They kept us there for two hours and did not let me talk to my husband.'

She said she had called the Russian consulate and asked for diplomatic assistance.

President Trump has vehemently denied accusations of collusion with Russia

She was later allowed to see her husband in jail. 'They let me see him. He does not understand what is going on,' she said.

'They showed him some strange papers with his name on them, some documents from America.

'He does not understand why him. There are many people with the same name as him.'

Alexander Ionov, vice president of the Russian department of the International Human Rights Committee, said the U.S. had arrested a number of Russians in third countries.

'The wife of Pyotr Levashov called me and according to her no legal documents were presented by the police,' he said.

'They only said that he was suspected of cyber attacks on U.S. governmental websites.

Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have repeatedly denied that Russia tried to influence the election

'The police confiscated all electronic devices from Pyotr and Maria.

'The confiscation took place without official witnesses. This may lead to free access to them and adding of various harmful files.

'Such a situation is a direct danger for the citizens of Russia who travel abroad.'

Peter Severa - or Peter of the North - is seen as linked to a number of spam attacks, but there are also claims Severa is not Levashov. Levashov is due to appear in court in Madrid late Monday.

United States intelligence agencies say state-linked Russian hackers meddled in the 2016 presidential election.

They claim the Russians infiltrated the Democratic National Committee and the email of Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, releasing documents in an effort to sway the election toward Donald Trump.

The U.S. Congress is also examining links between Russia and Trump during the election campaign.

Levashov was arrested by in Barcelona according to Spanish authorities

Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have repeatedly denied that Russia tried to influence the election.

In January, Spanish police arrested another Russian computer programmer, whose name was given as 'Lisov' and who was wanted by the United States under an international arrest warrant.

Levashov was remanded in custody according to Spanish legal sources.

He was detained at Barcelona airport on Friday while Spanish judges consider the extradition case against him.

A source told AFP that Levashov is 'suspected of having participated in hacking the election campaign in the United States'.

It is understood US authorities have 40 days to present their extradition case to the Spanish national court.