The infamous BTC-e crypto exchange operator Alexander Vinnik was recently sentenced to five years in prison and fined €100,000. Quoted by RIA Novosti, Russia’s Commissioner for Human Rights Tatyana Moskalkova revealed that Russia’s request to extradite Alexander Vinnik has been denied on Thursday and that the consideration of the case continues. Earlier, Paris Correctional Court found Vinnik guilty of money laundering and sentenced him to five years in prison.
Alexander Vinnik to go on a hunger strike once again.
According to the Russian Ombudsman, Vinnik is now ready to start a new hunger strike despite his health deteriorating after spending almost four years in detention. Vinnik was arrested while on vacation with his family in Greece in July 2017. He was detained on a warrant from the U.S., where he is stands accused of laundering up to $9 billion through the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e. Vinnik had spent 30 months in Greek custody without charges being filed, for which he went on a hunger strike that lasted almost three months. He is now ready to begin a new strike.
Vinnik stands accused of $10 million fraud in Russia.
Alexander Vinnik’s case has become a source of international tension with Russia, France, and the United States simultaneously seeking his extradition. In December 2019, the Greek minister of justice Kostas Tsiaras decided to hand the Russian citizen over to France first and then to the USA and Russia. Vinnik faces criminal charges in his home country too. Russian prosecutors have accused him of stealing more than 600,000 rubles (over $8,000) and “fraud in the field of computer information” for an estimated 750 million rubles (around $10 million). However, these are less severe charges than he faces in the U.S. and France.
