French court sentenced BTC-e operator Alexander Vinnik to 5 years in prison

An appeals court in Paris has confirmed five years imprisonment in the proceedings against the BTC-e operator Alexander Vinnik.

The court upheld the verdict and sentence in December 2020, finding that Vinnik / BTC-e had committed money laundering as part of an organized crime group and provided false information about the origins of the numbers.

The Paris court denied several requests from Vinnik’s defense team, including a request to examine copies of evidence presented by the FBI. The court also waived Vinnik’s fine of 100,000 euros, which was initially associated with a December fine.

Vinnik was initially accused of defrauding nearly 200 people with ransomware, but the court acquitted him of the malware attack allegations in December. Prosecutors asked the TAAS news agency to pay a small fine.

The Defense Group is expected to file an appeal in cassation within five days as required by French law.

The Russian computer expert was arrested in July 2017 at the request of the USA, initially while on vacation in Greece. He was accused by the United States of laundering over $ 4 billion while running the now defunct cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e.

Vinnik was extradited to France in January 2020, where he was sentenced to five years in prison in December. Vinnik’s lawyer, Frédéric Bélot, feared that the Greek authorities could reclaim him for similar fees.

Russia has also requested extradition on humanitarian grounds. After Vinnik went on a hunger strike in Greece in November 2018, Russian human rights inspector Tatiana Moskalkova asked the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for assistance in investigating Vinnik’s return to Russia. At the time, she pointed out the deteriorating health of Vinnik and his wife, who had been diagnosed with brain cancer.

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However, it is reported that Russia’s extradition request may be motivated by preventing sensitive data related to its intelligence activities from getting into the hands of foreign enemies.

If extradited, Vinnik faces lesser charges in Russia for “computer information fraud”.