Vinnik appears in US court for the first time
- August 8, 2022
- 0
Alexander Vinnik, extradited from Greece, appeared before an American court for the first time in San Francisco. This was announced by the US Department of Justice. According to
Alexander Vinnik, extradited from Greece, appeared before an American court for the first time in San Francisco. This was announced by the US Department of Justice.
According to the indictment, Vinnik and his accomplices owned and operated the BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange. The Justice Department said it was “a major cybercriminal and money laundering organization that allows users to trade bitcoin with a high level of anonymity.”
U.S. authorities allege that criminals around the world are trading via BTC-e, and the exchange has profited from numerous hacks, ransomware scams, identity theft, corrupt officials and drug dealers.
More than $4 billion in bitcoin was sent to BTC-e during its entire operation.
The platform has also worked in the US, although it is not officially registered and does not follow customer verification and anti-money laundering procedures.
Exchange and Vinnik itself are accused of running an unlicensed business in the United States, laundering money and participating in illegal money transactions.
Recall that in 2017 a Russian was detained in Greece on suspicion of laundering $4 billion via BTC-e. At the same time, the US authorities seized the exchange’s sphere of influence.
The US Attorney’s Office has filed a lawsuit against Vinnik and VTS-e seeking approximately $100 million in damages for violating the provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act. Vinnik was fined $12 million and the exchange has to pay about $88.6 million.
In January 2020, the Russian was extradited from Greece to France. In December, a Paris court found him guilty of money laundering via BTC-e and sentenced him to five years in prison and a €100,000 fine.
In 2022, US authorities withdrew a request to extradite a Russian from France in 2020, in what lawyers called a “fraud maneuver.”
At the beginning of August, Vinnik was extradited to Greece. But from there he was immediately sent to the United States. In the United States, a Russian citizen faces nearly 50 years in prison.
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Source: Fork Log
I’m Sandra Torres, a passionate journalist and content creator. My specialty lies in covering the latest gadgets, trends and tech news for Div Bracket. With over 5 years of experience as a professional writer, I have built up an impressive portfolio of published works that showcase my expertise in this field.
