RT.com
05 Aug 2022, 03:23 GMT+10
France has deported Russian crypto entrepreneur Aleksandr Vinnik to Greece, which may hand him over to the US, his lawyer says
Aleksandr Vinnik, a Russian cryptocurrency entrepreneur suspected of fraud in both Russia and the US, has been sent to Greece, his French lawyer told the Russian media on Thursday. Frederic Belo believes the move could be part of an elaborate scheme to eventually extradite his client to America.
Vinnik, a Russian expert in blockchain technology, was arrested in Greece back in 2017 at the request of the US government, which has accused him of laundering between $4 billion and $9 billion through the now defunct BTC-e cryptocurrency trading platform.
In 2019, the Greek Supreme Court ordered Vinnik's extradition to France, where he was also accused of money laundering. The man was then found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison. His jail term ended in late June, but the French authorities refused to let him walk free, despite his lawyer's pleas.
The French authorities supposedly planned to "secretly" hand him back to Greece in late June but the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) blocked the move, Belo told RIA Novosti news agency.
On Thursday, he was placed on a flight bound for Greece, the lawyer said. In mid-June, the US withdrew its extradition request for Vinnik, which had been filed with the French authorities, paving the way for his deportation back to Greece. However, according to Belo, this may have been part of an elaborate "deceptive maneuver" that would eventually see the Russian entrepreneur handed over to the US.
"Greece might potentially extradite Vinnik to the US, to California, San Francisco on short notice," Belo said.
If Athens grants Washington's request for extradition, Vinnik may face up to 55 years behind bars. The suspect has denied wrongdoing, saying the case against him was nothing but a US set-up.
Vinnik earlier told his lawyers he would like to be extradited to Russia and tried there, to be close to his family. He also said he was ready to cooperate with Russian investigators. Moscow authorities suspect him of illegally obtaining 750 million rubles ($ 12.2 million) through "computer information fraud" and stealing 600,000 rubles ($9,780).
Back in 2018, Vinnik claimed he could shed light on other crimes involving cryptocurrencies, adding that disclosing such information could put his life in danger.
Get a daily dose of Greek Herald news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Greek Herald.
More InformationBANGKOK, Thailand: Instant noodle makers have asked Thailand to allow them to increase their prices to meet rising costs, which ...
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia: In a Twitter post published this week, Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding said it had invested in Russian ...
DELHI, India: Dubbed the country's Warren Buffett, India's best-known stock investor and self-made billionaire, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, died on August 14 ...
SAO PAULO, Brazil: Brazil's central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto has said that he believes credit cards will cease to ...
LONDON, England: Despite a recent rebound, speculators in the international copper market, considered an indicator of the world's economic health, ...
MOSCOW, Russia: Financial information released by the Rosstat federal statistics service this week indicated that Russia's economy shrank 4 percent ...
WELLINGTON, New Zealand: During his visit to New Zealand, Ambassador Sujiro Seam, Head of the Delegation of the European Union ...
TALLINN, Estonia: The leaders of Estonia and Finland have said that Russian citizens should not be able to go on ...
WARSAW, Poland: Toughening its rhetoric in its rule-of-law row with the European Union, Poland's national-conservative government threatened to turn "all ...
Beijing [China], August 18 (ANI): Furthering Beijing into irrelevance, Estonia and Latvia have both pulled out of China's diplomatic and ...
This autumn's Brazilian presidential election offers a glimpse of how 21st century populist leaders are using religion to enthuse their ...
algiers, algeria - Wildfires raging in the forests of eastern Algeria have killed at least 37 people and wounded 161 ...