According to his Greek lawyer, Alexander Vinnik, the alleged operator of the crypto exchange BTC-e, if extradited to the US, would be a “hostage” due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine The French will immediately turn this Russian national over to Greece. France is likely to send the Russian back to Greece immediately, and Zoe Konstantopoulou is said to be trying to prevent his subsequent transfer to detention in the US.
Alexander Vinnik’s Greek defense attorneys are fighting his extradition
to the United States.
A French court is expected to approve convicted money launderer Alexander Vinnik’s return to Greece next week. Greek authorities arrested the Russian in 2017 and extradited him to France two years later, where he was also charged with identity theft and extortion. He is currently serving a five-year sentence there, taking into account the length of his pretrial detention.
Vinnik was arrested in Thessaloniki, where he arrived on vacation with his family. Under a warrant from the United States, he is also accused of laundering at least $4 billion through the notorious BTC-e exchange, including money from the Mount Gox hack. U.S. prosecutors also suspect him of collaborating with Russian intelligence.
Before sending him to France, Greece approved his extradition to the US on a decision by then Justice Minister Costas Tsiaras. Vinick’s lawyers now fear that he will be extradited to the U.S. soon after he is returned to the country.
His Greek lawyer, former parliamentary speaker Zoe Constantopoulou, is trying to prevent this development. In the United States, she warns, the 43-year-old Russian IT expert is effectively a “hostage” of the geopolitical conflict over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Konstantopoulou also opposes extradition to the U.S. on humanitarian grounds, a recent report by Kathimerini, a leading Greek daily, revealed. Vinik’s wife died in 2020 and he now has two sons, ages 8 and 11, who are growing up without their parents.
This month, U.S. authorities dropped their request to obtain the Russians directly from France. But according to his French lawyer, Frédéric Béraud, this is just a “deception maneuver” intended to actually accelerate his extradition through Greece, where the U.S. request has already been approved.
Authorities in Moscow have also formally requested both Greece and France to extradite Alexander Vinik, who is accused of other crimes, to Russia. The imprisoned crypto-entrepreneur has expressed on previous occasions his willingness to return to his home country and face justice there.
Image Credit: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Embassy of Russia in Greece