According to the Rferl report, The 40-year-old Aleksander Vinnik is allegedly the main person behind a $4 billion bitcoin money-laundering ring, and he is to be extradited to France, the United States, and Russia.
Aleksander Vinnik launched a hunger strike.
When Vinnik heard about the news of his extradition earlier this week, he launched a hunger strike. He has been custody in Greece for the past two years. The Greece authorities, for now, have postponed his extradition. Vinnik’s lawyer, Zoe Constantopoulou, said, “Greek authorities issued a temporary postponement of the extradition of Aleksandr Vinnik to France, the United States, and Russia, recognizing the danger that could represent.”
Vinnik also faces charges in Russia.
Aleksander Vinnik is the seventh such person detained or indicted worldwide this year on U.S. cyber crime charges. Vinnik is also accused of defrauding scores of people all over France. Russian authorities also want Vinnik, but charges against him in his home country are less severe. A Greek court had cleared Vinnik’s extradition to the United States in 2017 before other courts approved the extradition to France or Russia, and Greece’s justice minister stepped in to decide which of the three countries he should be sent to.
