BTC-e founder Alexander Vinnik is seeking to return to Russia amid pressure from his lawyers to trade him for US journalist Evan Gershkovich, who is currently imprisoned in Russia for espionage. Vinnik, co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e, has been charged with money laundering and is currently imprisoned in the United States.
BTC-e founder seeks to return to Russia
Lawyers for Alexander Vinnik, the Russian citizen who co-founded the BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange and who has been convicted of money laundering and imprisoned in this regard in the United States, are pushing for the latter be traded for Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovichwho is imprisoned in Russia.
The journalist, of American nationality, was arrested by the Russian services last March and then imprisoned for espionage. The arrest has received widespread international condemnation, whether from government agencies or media advocacy groups.
Some have seen through his imprisonment a attempt to intimidate Western journalists who would like to investigate certain aspects of the war between Russia and Ukraineas Jeanne Cavelier from Reporters Without Borders had suggested.
For his part, Alexander Vinnik had pleaded not guilty to the money laundering charges against him. His lawyers have thus requested that he may be ” allowed to publicly advocate for his inclusion in a prisoner exchange “.
This request also comes in opposition to an order prohibiting the founder of BTC-e from speaking publicly about the accusations against him, and will therefore require the approval of a judge.
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Back to the case
Created in 2011, the BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange was founded by Alexander Vinnik, of whom we spoke earlier, alongside his friend at the time Aleksandr Bilyuchenko. As exchanges were rarer at that time than today, BTC-e managed significant volumes of cryptocurrencies (BTC, LTC, NMC, DASH, ETH) and also managed fiat currency exchanges.
In 2017, the American authorities seized the domain name of the exchange and arrested Alexander Vinnik, before sticking him with more than twenty indictments, in particular for conspiracy, money laundering, illicit financial transactions or again for offering certain services that require licenses. In particular, the exchange would have made it possible to transit part of the funds stolen in the famous Mt. Gox case.
Concerning him, Vinnik has always denied what he was accused of, ensuring that he was not at the head of the exchange at the time of the facts with which he is accused.
The prisoner exchange method was notably used last December, when Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout was traded for American basketball player Brittney Grinner previously arrested in Moscow for possession of cannabis oil.
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Source: Wall Street Journal
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Passionate about the world of decentralized finance and the novelties brought by Web 3.0, I write articles for Cryptoast to help make blockchain more accessible to everyone. Convinced that cryptocurrencies will change the future very soon.
Maximilien Prue
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