Greece Extradites Alleged Launderer of $4B BTC Alexander Vinnik to France

Greece’s Council of State dominated for the extradition to France of former operator of now-shuttered crypto change BTC-e and Russian nationwide Alexander Vinnik.

English-language native information outlet Greek Reporter reported on the court docket’s determination on Jan. 23. Yesterday, Russian information company TASS reported that Russian International Minister Sergey Lavrov protested:

“The choice to extradite him to France is inadmissible so long as no explanations have been offered why he’s not extradited to Russia. His household has been damaged up, his proper to life and well being violated. Greece is obliged to carry prisoners in circumstances that don’t enable torture and bullying.”

Vinnik’s alleged crimes

As Cointelegraph reported in late-July 2017, Vinnik was arrested throughout a trip in Greece by native police and accused of heading a gaggle that laundered $four billion in Bitcoin (BTC) over the course of six years.

Vinnik is believed to have a direct relationship with the notorious hack of cryptocurrency change Mt. Gox. The Bitcoin obtained by the heist was reportedly not solely laundered by BTC-e but additionally had been on Vinnik’s pockets. The overall quantity is 300,000 BTC. The MtGox trustee additionally contacted america Division of Justice looking for details about Alexander Vinnik, the alleged former operator of BTC-e in early October 2019.

Earlier this week, his legal professionals for Alexander Vinnik filed a grievance alleging violation of their defendant’s rights.

The litigation over the place Vinnik ought to be extradited to has concerned many nations and shortly grew to become a serious diplomatic ordeal. Russia has each filed a number of requests with Greek judicial authorities and requested for assist from the United Nations Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights in an try to convey him beneath its jurisdiction.

Vinnik was first indicted by the U.S. in July 2017. The Supreme Civil and Legal Court docket of Greece later dominated for his extradition to Russia in September 2018. In July 2018, nonetheless, a Greek court docket dominated to extradite him to France. Now, that is the place Vinnik seems to be headed.