Alexander Vinnik, a Russian crypto- and IT specialist and has served five years in prison in France. Now, Vinnik faces a possible return to Greece as well as extradition to America. The defense of Alexander Vinnik against transfer has been dismissed by the French cassation courts.
US Extradition Continues to Haunt BTC-e’s Alexander Vinnik
Alexander Vinnik is being threatened with extradition from the United States, the man who is accused of operating the notorious BTC-e currency exchange. The Russian’s international defense team is still trying to secure his release but the French judiciary seems inclined to send him back to Greece, where he was arrested.
Vinnik was sentenced to five year imprisonment in France for money laundering. He was then extradited from Greece in December 2020. Vinnik was captured in Thessaloniki (Greek) during his summer 2017 vacation.
His French sentence has been completed by the Russian national, taking into consideration his parole and pre-trial conditions. Officially, the Russian national can be permitted to travel to Russia. Russia has also requested his extradition for separate charges. In the past, his intention was to return home.
However, France now intends to hand him over to Greece, after an appeal filed by his defense — comprising legal experts from Russia, France, and Greece — was rejected last month. Vinnik was represented by Frederic Belot in France, according to Kommersant, a Russian daily of business.
The Court of Cassation ruled in favor of the appellant on Tuesday 28 June without any justification or motive. This shocking, unexpected decision was made.
Alexander Vinnik could now be sent back to Greece after the U.S. requested his extradition. They appealed to the European Court of Human Rights and were able to prevent the transfer from occurring immediately.
American prosecutors believe Vinnik has laundered at least $4 billion through the now defunct crypto exchange BTC-e. U.S. investigators also suspect Vinnik of collaborating with Russian intelligence, alleging that part of the digital money that passed through the crypto trading platform could’ve been used to finance Russia’s security forces.
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