February 10, 2025

Vinnik's lawyer announced his possible extradition to the United States

Vinnik's lawyer announced his possible extradition to the United States

A French court has ruled against Russian Alexander Vinnik, as a result of which he may beextradited to Greece, and then to the United States. 

As lawyer Frederic Belo told Kommersant, the court rejected the cassation petition appealing the sentence of five years in prison:

"As a result, Oleksandr Vinnik, who has already served his prison term, willtransferred to Greece and then to the United States, as Greece had already granted the request for extradition to the United States."

The transfer was supposed to take place on Thursday, June 30.However, the defense filed an urgent appeal to suspend the expulsion of Vinnik from France, and also appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. 

Recall that in 2017, a Russian was detained in Greece on suspicion of laundering $4 billion through the BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange. At the same time, US authorities confiscated the BTC-e domain.

The court granted the request for Vinnik's extradition at the request of three countries at once - the USA, Russia and France. 

In 2019, the Greek authorities decided tohis extradition to France. He was extradited in January 2020. In December, the Russian was found guilty of money laundering through BTC-e, sentenced to five years in prison and a €100,000 fine.

In the event of his further extradition to the United States, Vinnik faces more than 50 years in prison.

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