BTC-E’s Alexander Vinnik Will be Extradited to France After all

It has been a while since an update on Alexander Vinnik was provided. The alleged operator of money laundering exchange BTC-E will seemingly be extradited after all.

This tug-of-war between different jurisdictions has been ongoing for some time now.

Bonjour, Alexander Vinnik

Vinnik was originally arrested in Greece, yet Russia demanded his extradition.

Not too long after, he was also on the wanted list of both the United States and France.

That latter country has now seemingly won the battle for extradition.

An earlier request by Russian official was officially rejected earlier this week.

During the coming weeks, Vinnik will be moved to a holding facility in France.

As was somewhat to be expected, the alleged BTC-E operator doesn’t like this outlook at all.

As a result, he is now on a hunger strike to protest the decision, albeit to little avail. 

It is the second hunger strike by Vinnik since his arrest, yet the previous one came to an end after 100 days.

Ever since being arrested the individual still claims he has nothing to do with how BTC-E laundered millions in crime money. 

What kind of trial Vinnik will face, or which sentencing will be handed down, remains unclear at the time of writing.