Alexander Vinnik, a Russian citizen wanted for financial crimes, was extradited yesterday from France to Greece, and from there immediately boarded a plane that took him to the United States. His French lawyer, Frederic Bellot, told the Russian TASS news agency. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented today: “We are following the developments regarding Vinnik, like all Russian citizens, that’s all I can say.”
Vinnik, a computer specialist, was arrested in Greece in July 2017 at the request of the United States, where he is Accused of laundering between 4 and 9 billion dollars with cryptocurrency It no longer exists, the BTC-e. In 2019, the Greek Minister of Justice issued a decision to extradite him first to France, then to the United States, and finally to Russia. In fact, even the French and Russian courts accused him of various financial crimes. After being sentenced to five years in prison in Paris in 2020, Vinic was extradited to Greece yesterday. His lawyer said that from here he was taken straight to San Francisco. In the past, the man said that he wanted to return to Russia, where he was accused of embezzlement and computer fraud.
The developments of the complex case coincide with the readiness of the United States and Russia to exchange prisoners after the American basketball player Britney Grenier was sentenced to nine years in prison in Moscow yesterday on charges of drug possession and smuggling. However, Vinnik was never talked about for a possible exchange.
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