Russian extradited to US: he faces 50 years in prison for cryptocurrency fraud

Russian Alexander Vinnik, who is suspected of laundering $4 billion on a cryptocurrency exchange, was transported from Greece to the United States, where he faces up to 50 years in prison. The edition told in more detail Voice of America.

Photo: IStock

On August 4, the plane with the Russian flew from Paris to Athens for further extradition to the United States. From Greece, Vinnik was taken to Boston (Massachusetts) on a private plane and then transported on a service plane to San Francisco (California). From Boston, he was given a call home.

On the eve of the Paris court approved the US decision to withdraw the request for the extradition of Vinnik and end the case against him in France. At the same time, the lawyer of the Russian explained that, in fact, Vinnik would not be released, since he would have to be immediately taken into custody to be transferred to Greece.

On July 28, the Russian again asked for political asylum in Greece.

Vinnik's Greek lawyer Zoe Konstantopoulou does not rule out that the United States is seeking his extradition for subsequent exchange for Americans convicted in Russia.

Alexander Vinnik is a former bitcoin trading platform operator. In July 2017, he was arrested in Greece at the request of the United States.

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In Russia, two criminal cases were initiated against the Russian, in both he was suspected of fraud, and one appeared after his absentee "surrender." Corresponding requests for his extradition went to Greece, which were granted. They also opened their own case in France, writes with the BBC.

All three extradition requests - American, Russian and French - were granted by the Greek authorities, but the Greek side could not decide for a long time where to send Mr. Bitcoin, as the local press nicknamed him.

In 2020, the Russian was extradited to France, where he was sentenced to five years in prison for money laundering. French justice accused him of hacking into the emails of several thousand users and extorting money from them.

In the summer of 2022, Vinnik's term in a French prison expired, after which a series of lawsuits began again to extradite him. The scheme is complex.

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On August 4, a court in Paris granted the request of the American authorities to extradite Vinnik to the United States, but his defense immediately warned that he could be sent there in transit through Greece, where there was another valid request.

So in the end it turned out, although the Greek lawyers met the client right at the airport. In the US, he faces a combined sentence of over 50 years.

Alexander Vinnik previously stated that he was ready to stand trial only in Russia and cooperate with the investigation. He confessed to the Russian authorities in hacker attacks and money laundering.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier

• Alexander Vinnik 25 was arrested on July 2017 of the year at the request of the United States while on vacation in the Greek Halkidiki. Winnick arrived in a Greek village on the shores of the Aegean Sea with his wife and children. The US authorities tracked him through a mobile phone. After his arrest, the BTC-E site ceased to exist.
• Jury jury in san francisco california indicted him in money laundering and cryptocurrency fraud. The Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation sent a request for the extradition of Vinnik to Russia. Vinnik pleads not guilty.
• The court of the Greek city of Thessaloniki accepted the US request for extradition Russian Alexander Vinnik, but his defense immediately filed an appeal.

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