- Russian cybercrime suspect Alexander Vinnik was arrested in Greece in 2017 and convicted of money laundering in France in 2020.
- Winnick has partially pleaded guilty and expects to receive less than 10 years in prison under the plea agreement.
- Negotiations with the prosecutor’s office resulted in a settlement that reduced Vinnik’s potential life sentence.
Alexander Vinnik, a russian The suspected cybercrime mastermind, who was arrested in Greece in 2017, was convicted of money laundering in France three years later and is now awaiting trial in California, the Tass news agency reported on Saturday, quoting his lawyer. Pleaded partly guilty.
The lawyer, Arkady Bukh, said that as a result of the plea bargain he now hopes Vinnik will receive a prison sentence of less than 10 years.
“He admitted a limited number of charges,” TASS quoted Buch as saying. He said Vinnik faced life in prison.
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“The negotiations culminated in an agreement with the prosecutor’s office. We expect the prison term to be up to 10 years.”
Alexander Vinnik is taken by police officers to a court in Athens, Greece on December 13, 2017. Vinnik, a Russian suspected cybercrime kingpin who was arrested in Greece in 2017, was convicted of money laundering in France three years later and is now awaiting trial. In California, there has been partial acceptance of blame. (Reuters/Costas Baltas/file photo)
Vinnik, accused of money laundering more than $4 billion through the digital currency Bitcoin, was arrested in Greece in 2017 at the request of the United States, although Moscow has repeatedly demanded he be returned to Russia.
He was extradited from Greece to France where he was sentenced to five years in prison for money laundering, before being deported to Greece and then back. United States of america In 2022.
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The US Justice Department has said that Vinnik “allegedly owned, operated and managed BTC-e, a significant cybercrime and online money laundering entity that allowed its users to trade Bitcoin with a high degree of anonymity And developed a customer base that was heavily dependent on criminals’ activity.”
The US charges against Vinnik carry a maximum sentence of 55 years in prison, according to US Department of Justice Website.