Alexander Vinnik, the alleged operator of the crypto exchange BTC-e, may be a candidate for a prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia. This is according to a statement made by one of his lawyers to Russian media; the latest court hearing in Vinnik’s case has been postponed.
A Russian accused of laundering billions through Crypto may be returning home, according to his lawyer
A lawyer for Alexander Vinnik, the alleged operator of the notorious cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e, believes his client may be considered for a prisoner exchange between the United States and the Russian Federation.
David Rizk, who represents Vinnik in the U.S., commented on Vinnik’s potential return in an interview with the RIA Novosti news agency cited by other Russian media and crypto news outlets.” I would not rule out that possibility,” he said.
The Russian IT expert has been in US custody since last August, when he was extradited from Greece. U.S. authorities accuse him of laundering at least $4 billion through the now-defunct coin trading platform. If convicted, the 43-year-old Russian faces up to 55 years in prison.
Alexander Vinnik was arrested in 2017 while on vacation in Thessaloniki. Athens approved an extradition request submitted by the United States, but in December 2019 he was first extradited to France and returned to Greece after serving a five-year sentence for money laundering. French and Greek authorities have ignored the Russian extradition request.
In September 2022, another member of Vinik’s legal team, French lawyer Frédéric Béraud, urged the government in Moscow to include his countrymen in a possible prisoner exchange deal with Washington; in October, he also urged the government in Moscow to send Vinik to the United States after time spent in solitary confinement and hunger strikes. called on Russian Patriarch Kirill to “save” crypto-entrepreneurs whose health was deteriorating.
In December, Russian media reported that Alexander Vinnik had applied for bail citing delays in his trial; RIA Novosti reported last week that his scheduled court hearing via video call had been postponed until February 24 “due to confusion with the prison schedule” where he is being held. .
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