Vinnik transported to the United States shortly after extradition to Greece
Russian national Alexander Vinnik was extradited from France to Greece. After arriving in Athens, he disappeared, according to his lawyer Zoi Konstantopoulou.
According to Vinnik’s family, he was flown from Greece to the United States on a private plane — initially to Boston, and then to San Francisco.
French lawyer Frédéric Belo confirmed that his client was immediately taken from Athens to the United States. He added that the Russian’s defense has been entrusted to state-appointed lawyers, as he has no funds for private lawyers.
On 4 August, the Investigative Chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal ruled the extradition request to the United States invalid and issued a decision to transfer him to Greece, according to TASS.
Earlier, it was reported that up to this moment he would continue to remain in a French prison.
However, almost immediately Vinnik was sent to Greece, according to attorney Frédéric Belo. The latter noted that from there the Russian could be extradited to the United States under an arrest warrant issued earlier by a San Francisco court.
The Greek lawyer Zoi Konstantopoulou said that after arriving in Greece Vinnik disappeared. According to her, this resembles a forcible abduction:
“We are at the police department of the Athens airport. [Officials] said they do not know where Alexander Vinnik is, that he never passed through here, that they do not know his name, they do not know where he is. In short, they know nothing.”
She added that Vinnik may still be inside the police department, or may already be en route to the United States:
“If something like that happened, it would be one of the most egregious violations of international law. It would be kidnapping and forced disappearance.”
Earlier, Vinnik was detained in Greece on suspicion of laundering $4 billion through the BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange.
Subsequently he was extradited to France, where a court sentenced the Russian to five years in prison and a fine of €100,000. He was found guilty of money laundering, but charges of extortion and creating the Locky ransomware were dropped.
The defence attempted to appeal the verdict, but the Paris Court of Appeal confirmed the ruling of the first instance.
In July, U.S. authorities withdrew the extradition request for Vinnik from France, though his lawyers called it a “deceptive maneuver”.
If he is ever extradited to the United States, Vinnik faces about 50 years in prison.
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