BTC-e Operator Alexander Vinnik Has Been Extradited to the US
The news comes weeks after U.S. authorities called off their previous extradition request, thereby paving the way for Vinnik to be brought to the U.S.
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The Russian bitcoin fraud suspect Alexander Vinnik (right) escorted to the Supreme Court in Greece on Nov. 15, 2017. (Alexandros Michailidis/Shutterstock)
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BTC-e operator Alexander Vinnik has been extradited to the U.S. from Greece, Vinnik's French lawyer, Frederic Belot, confirmed to CoinDesk. CNN first reported the extradition.
A few weeks ago, U.S. authorities had called off their request to extradite the Russian national from France. However, by calling off the extradition request Vinnik could be sent to Greece and later to the U.S, his lawyer had said at the time.
At the time, Belot declined to explain the legal mechanism being used by U.S. authorities, only responding that "by withdrawing their request, the U.S. reactivated the Greece request."
In 2020, Vinnik was indicted by a California court on allegations of “computer intrusions and hacking incidents, ransomware scams, identity theft schemes, corrupt public officials and narcotics distribution rings.”
Vinnik has always denied that he ran BTC-e, claiming he only worked at the exchange.
BTC-e, in turn, was shut down by U.S. authorities in 2017, its servers confiscated and Vinnik arrested in Greece, where he was on a beach with his family. Since then three countries have been competing to extradite Vinnik – the U.S., France and Russia – with all three presenting a different set of allegations.
UPDATE (Aug 5, 09:32 UTC): Updates headline and lede with confirmation.
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