Bitcoin scammers have always made news in the cryptocurrency industry and with the advent of new regulations, many of them are frequently coming to light. The latest case to receive a new twist is the long-running BTC-e issue.
Alexander Vinnik, the man behind the Bitcoin scam BTC-e took another hit in jail as the highest judicial court in Greece approved of his extradition to France.
Vinnik has been in Greek custody since 2017 with multiple appeals surrounding his case. Bypassing its latest decision, the Greek Court has allowed Paris to take over the case which will be beneficial to the United States of America.
The US has been calling for his extradition ever since his arrest because BTC-e was operating in the United States. A large number of BTC-e’s victims were also from the US mainland. If Vinnik is to be transferred to the US then the trails will be conducted under a totally different judicial law.
Washington, however, faces opposition from Russia, who has also asked for Vinnik to be extradited to Moscow. Speaking about the decision, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated:
“The decision to extradite him to France is inadmissible as long as no explanations have been provided why he is not extradited to Russia. His family has been broken up, his right to life and health violated. Greece is obliged to hold prisoners in conditions that do not allow torture and bullying.”
Vinnik faces an uphill battle from here because he is accused of multiple crimes in different nations. The US has accused Vinnik of assisting in an array of cases ranging from computer hacking to drug trafficking. To combat the flurry of attacks, Vinnik has his personal lawyer who was outraged by the Greek court’s decision. He claimed that the statement from the court was basically a “death sentence”.
Alexander Vinnik was first arrested in July 2017 while vacationing in Greece. His initial crime was laundering over $4 billion for which he was being chased bu US authorities. Later sources claimed that he was also connected to the Bitcoin scam in Mt. Gox where he was connected to over 300,000 BTC.
Vinnik originally hails from Russia, where he still has charges worth $11,000 to be paid off. Russia usually stays on the heels of any case involving their citizens and that is reflected in this case too. Once Vinnik is extradited to France, there is a possibility that he could be moved to the US. If so, Russia would have to sit and watch what the US decides to do with one of their own.
