Alexander Vinnik will be extradited to France, USA and Russia

Greece’s Supreme Court has ruled that Alexander Vinnik, accused of operating the BTC-e exchange, will be extradited to France. Vinnik currently has arrest warrants for money laundering from authorities in Russia, the US and France. He was arrested in July 2017 by Greek authorities and has been in prison ever since.

The accusations against Vinnik are that, through the BTC platform, he would have laundered $ 4 billion in money.

BTC-e was a cryptocurrency trading platform during July 2011-July 2017. In February 2015, the exchange managed about 3% of Bitcoin volume. In July 2017, US authorities closed the site on a charge of money laundering.

Authorities in three countries claim that Vinnik was the platform manager, though he claims he was just an employee. Following the accusations, he pleaded not guilty and asked to be tried in Russia.

CEO of the BTC platform, Alexander Vinnik will be extradited

The Greek Minister of Justice has decided that Vinnik will be extradited to France, the US and Russia in this order. According to the Ekathimerini news site, the Supreme Court upheld this decision.

In 2018, the first Greek court decided that the arrest warrant in France has priority. There, Vinnik is accused of cybercrime, money laundering, membership of an organized criminal group and blackmail.

In December 2018, Russia’s Attorney General requested extradition to Russia. Russian media reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin made the same request to the Greek Prime Minister.

Vinnik went on hunger strike this month, claiming his rights were violated.

But the Greek Supreme Court has decided to extradite him to France. The decision cannot be challenged.