Alexander Vinnik’s trial postponed to September 2024

The next court hearing in the case of the Russian national Alexander Vinnik, who is accused of laundering at least $4 billion via the BTC-e bitcoin exchange, has been moved from February to September 2024. As reported by RIA Novosti.

The defence pressed for a postponement of the proceedings. The new lawyer for the Russian, Arkady Bukh, requested additional time to review the case documents and prepare for the trial.

The first pre-trial conference, at which the technical details of the forthcoming hearing will be fixed, is scheduled for 17 September.

Earlier Buh allowed for a guilty plea by his client in the event of a strong evidentiary basis against him.

Earlier, Alexander Vinnik was detained in Greece in the summer of 2017. In 2020, he was extradited to France, where he was subsequently sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of €100,000 for money laundering. Charges of extortion and creating the Locky ransomware were dropped.

In August 2022 Alexander Vinnik was taken to the United States, where he faces up to 55 years in prison. The court refused to release him on bail.