BTC-e operator who used Bitcoin to launder $4 billion extradited to US to face charges

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Friday that Alexander Vinnik, a 42-year-old Russian, has been extradited from Greece to the US to face multiple charges related to money laundering and operating an illegal cryptocurrency exchange.

Vinnik first got into legal trouble with the DOJ in 2017 for allegedly operating the now-defunct crypto trading platform BTC-e in the US without proper authorization and helping criminals launder at least $4 billion through Bitcoin.

An extradition battle

That same year, he was arrested in Greece at the request of the US government. After his arrest, Vinnik’s assets were worth $90 million confiscated of the police in the New Zealand Police. At the time, authorities noted that BTC-e allegedly had no anti-money laundering policies, thereby facilitating a range of cybercrimes, including money laundering, ransomware attacks, fraud, theft and drug crimes.

In January 2020, the 42-year-old then became delivered to France after a year-long extradition battle between Russia, France and the United States.

After his extradition to France, Vinnik denied the charges and requested a transfer to Russia, where he faces lesser criminal charges involving about $11,000. His request was rejected by a Paris-based judge who ruled that he would be prosecuted in France for defrauding at least 100 people through ransomware between 2016 and 2018.

In December 2020, French prosecutors sentenced Vinnik to five years in prison for money laundering. However, he was acquitted of the first allegation that he had defrauded people through ransom money.

The US extradites Vinnik from Greece

On Thursday, the criminal was transferred back to Greece and extradited to the United States. He now faces 21 charges, including operating an unlicensed money services business, conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering and illegal money transactions.

“After more than five years of litigation, Russian national Alexander Vinnik was extradited to the United States yesterday to be held responsible for operating BTC-e, a criminal cryptocurrency exchange, which laundered more than $4 billion in criminal proceeds.” so Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. at the Ministry of Justice’s criminal department.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations and the US Secret Service Criminal Investigative Division are still investigating the case. Vinnik risks spending up to 50 years in a US prison if found guilty.