Alexander Vinnik, extradited from Greece, appeared before a U.S. court in San Francisco for the first time. The U.S. Department of Justice said.
According to the indictment, Vinnik and his associates owned and operated the cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e. In the Justice Department’s release, it is described as ‘a large organisation engaged in cybercrime and money laundering, enabling users to trade bitcoins with a high level of anonymity’.
U.S. authorities allege that criminals worldwide conducted transactions through BTC-e, and the exchange derived revenues from numerous computer hacks, ransomware fraud, data theft, corrupt officials and drug traffickers.
BTC-e, during its operation, sent bitcoins worth more than $4 billion.
The platform operated in the United States as well, though it was not formally registered and did not implement customer-verification and anti-money-laundering procedures.
The exchange and Vinnik himself are accused of conducting unlicensed business in the United States, money laundering, and involvement in illegal financial transactions.
In 2017, the Russian was arrested in Greece on suspicion of laundering $4 billion through BTC-e. At the same time, U.S. authorities seized the exchange’s domain.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil action against Vinnik and BTC-e seeking roughly $100 million for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. Vinnik was fined $12 million, and the exchange was ordered to pay about $88.6 million.
The Russian was extradited from Greece to France in January 2020. In December, the Paris court found him guilty of laundering funds through BTC-e and was sentenced to five years in prison and a €100 000 fine.
Later, U.S. authorities withdrew the 2020 extradition request for the Russian from France, which lawyers described as a ‘deceptive manoeuvre’.
In early August, Vinnik was extradited back to Greece. However, his lawyers said that after the flight he disappeared. It later emerged that from Greece Vinnik was immediately sent to the United States. In the United States, the Russian faces around 50 years in prison.
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