Russian Alexander Vinnik, accused of laundering at least $4 billion through the BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange, did not petition a U.S. court to release him on bail. He said so in an interview with Izvestia.
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According to Vinnik, his mother told him about the allegedly filed motion.
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“I did not apply to anyone regarding bail. I do not have that kind of money, so this is nonsense. After all, bail requires a large sum, and that is unrealistic,” he said.
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The Russian said that he attended the latest hearing by video and was not given the right to speak, and due to the absence of an interpreter he “did not really understand what they were talking about”.
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Vinnik also complained about problems with his vision, stomach and frequent headaches.
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Earlier media citing the defendant’s lawyers said that the Russian allegedly asked to be released on bail “due to the delays in the proceedings”.
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As reported, Alexander Vinnik was detained in Greece in the summer of 2017. In 2020, he was extradited to France, where he was later sentenced to five years in prison and a €100,000 fine for money laundering. The charges of extortion and creating the malicious Locky ransomware were dropped from him.
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In early August 2022, Vinnik was brought to the United States, where he faces up to 55 years in prison. The court refused to release him on bail.
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