Because the relations between your U.S. and Russia remain stringent because of the latter country’s invasion of Ukraine, an attorney for any Russian citizen charged with washing greater than USD 4bn price of crypto has known as around the Kremlin to facilitate a prisoner exchange involving his client with Washington.
Inside a letter acquired by Reuters, an attorney for Alexander Vinnik, a guy extradited last August towards the U.S. to manage money washing charges, requested Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to setup a prisoner exchange including his client.
“Now the only real factor that may save Alexander is perfect for the Spain to initiate negotiations using the American government bodies inside the framework from the exchange of prisoners between your countries pointed out,” lawyer Frederic Belot stated within the letter.
Inside a statement, the U.S. Department of Justice states that according “to the indictment, Vinnik and the co-conspirators allegedly owned, operated, and administrated BTC-e, a substantial cybercrime an internet-based money washing entity that permitted its users to exchange bitcoin rich in amounts of anonymity and developed some customer heavily dependent on criminal activity.”
“Vinnik was taken into child custody in A holiday in greece in This summer 2017 in the request from the U . s . States. He earned his initial appearance earlier today in federal court in Bay Area before U.S. Justice of the peace Judge Sallie Kim,” the department stated on August 5, 2022.
The alleged money launderer is facing as much as 55 years imprisonment if charged.
Moscow and Washington have apparently experienced talks more than a potential prisoner swap. Last Feb, the Russian government bodies arrested U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner on drug trafficking charges. The athlete was arrested in the Moscow-based Sheremetyevo Worldwide Airport terminal after under a gram of hashish oil was discovered in her own luggage. In 2020, a Russian court sentenced former U.S. Marine Paul Whela to 16-years imprisonment for alleged spying.
