Russia ‘Working to Free BTC-e Exec Vinnik’ from US Jail
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Russian authorities have claimed they are “working to free” Alexander Vinnik, the former operations and finance director at the crypto exchange BTC-e.
Per the state-run news agency TASS, Russian diplomats from the nation’s embassy in Washington “visited” Vinnik in a detention center in California.
Embassy Staff Visit BTC-e Exec in Jail
On its Telegram channel, the embassy said its staff were in California to “provide on-site consular services to Russian citizens” living in the state.
The diplomats said they visited Vinnik at the Santa Rita prison in Alameda County.
“The [diplomats] provided support for their compatriot. They assured [Vinnik] that they would continue to provide him with consular and legal assistance, as well as make efforts to free him and return him to his home country.”
Russian diplomatic staff
The diplomats also published a photograph of the exterior of the Santa Rita Jail on its channel.
It also posted pictures of the other people it says its staff assisted on their visit to California.
Money Laundering Charges
The US government has accused Vinnik of laundering “between $4 billion and $9 billion” through BTC-e.
Arkady Bukh, Vinnik’s lawyer, previously told the same media outlet that Vinnik will not be sentenced on money laundering charges until 2025.
Vinnik was detained in California this year. He pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
He was one of the key figures at BTC-e from 2011 to 2017. During its heyday, some 3% of global Bitcoin (BTC) trades were conducted on the BTC-e platform.
But the BTC-e empire came crashing down in 2017, when the United States Justice Department launched a bid to close it down.
Mt. Gox Link
US officials said criminals had used the exchange to launder funds stolen in the Mt. Gox hack. Shortly after, Vinnik was arrested in Ouranoupoli, Greece.
He was extradited to the United States on August 4, 2022. Vinnik’s legal team began talking of a potential prisoner swap soon after.
“BTC-e relied on shell companies and affiliate entities that were […] unregistered […] and lacked basic anti-money laundering and KYC policies to electronically transfer fiat currency in and out of BTC-e. Vinnik set up numerous such shell companies and financial accounts across the globe to allow BTC-e to conduct its business.”
US Department of Justice/Office of Public Affairs
In May this year, the DoJ said that a federal district court judge would “determine any sentence after considering” the sentencing guidelines and “other statutory factors.”
Prisoner Swap Move On?
Neither the TASS report nor the diplomats made any mention of the kind of efforts they might make to free Vinnik.
However, the news agency posted links to two recent news articles about US-Russia prisoner swap deals.
Last month, the USA and Russia concluded the biggest prisoner exchange deal since the Cold War, with 26 people released.
In the wake of the deal, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova made mention of Vinnik in a post on her Telegram channel.
She said that she hoped the deal would “pave the way” for “every Russian citizen held abroad” to “return to their families and loved ones.”
“Unfortunately, many of our compatriots, convicted on various charges, still remain in the countries of the collective West. Among them is Alexander Vinnik. We have been fighting for his release for several years.”
Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova
Kremlin Making Moves?
The day before, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s press secretary, said “work” was “continuing to “free” more Russians held in custody abroad.
“All our relevant departments are continuing to work on this matter.”
Dmitry Peskov, Russian Presidential Press Secretary
Russian embassy staff also reported they had “inspected diplomatic properties seized by the American authorities.”
These include the buildings of the Consulate General in San Francisco, as well as the residence of the Consul General.
