- We release BTC-E operator Alexander Vinnik, who is in jail with a prisoner exchange with Russia.
- Arrested in 2017, Vinnik is part of the exchange of Russian release in prison for US school teacher Marc Fogel.
Alexander Vinnik, who is in jail in the United States after being convicted of money laundering, is released as part of a prisoner swap.
After the Kremlin agrees to exchanges the US National MARC FOGEL, the former operator of Russian crypto exchange BTC-E will head to Russia.
According to the BBC, the White House confirmed captivity and Trump talked with Fogel. The school teacher left Russia on Tuesday, February 11.
Who is Vinnik?
44-year-old Alexander Vinnik is an encryption kingpin that operates Bitcoin Exchange BTC-E. The authorities arrested Vinnik in Greece in 2017, and the Ministry of Justice was prosecuted for nearly $ 4 billion.
According to the prosecution, Vinnik has allowed cyber criminals to wash and store criminal revenue, including encryption hacking, ransomware attacks and identity thefts using BTC-E.
The Russians’ rule over the domination of exchange saw that he promoted the platform to the perpetrators of these crimes. The US authorities blamed him with a loss of $ 120 million.
The New Zealand police, in particular, seized $ 90 million from the BTC-E operator.
Vinnik’s conviction in May 2024 meant he was sentenced to imprisonment for 20 years.
Prisoner Swap comes after his lawyer failed in the previous attempts that his lawyer included in another US-Russian prisoner. One of those driving force is related to the contract, which the Wall Street journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was previously imprisoned in Russia.