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As CCN has already reported, Alexandre Vinnik, 38, was arrested in July while he was on vacation in Greece. , in connection with alleged financial crimes committed during the exploitation of bitcoins BTC-e exchange, today gone.
In October, a panel of three judges approved an extradition request to the United States where a grand jury charged him with 21 counts of indictment, including a money laundering operation. $ 4 billion bitcoin linked to the collapse of Mt. Gox. However, a separate panel of Greek judges has considered extraditing him to his home country, Russia, where he is accused of obtaining 667,000 rubles (~ $ 11,500) by fraud. His future was left in turmoil.
Although the Greek courts have approved both extradition requests, Vinnik is fighting against the decision to extradite him to the United States because he is a Russian citizen, and does not dispute the demand for extradition. Russian extradition, according to reports
.
Recently, according to the Associated Press, the Greek Supreme Court postponed its extradition hearing for the United States' application until December, in order to allow two witnesses to testify. attend the proceedings. The new hearing date has been set for December 6th.
One of Vinnik's lawyers, Alexandros Lykourezos, reportedly stated:
"We asked the court to postpone today's hearing of Vinnik's US extradition request, so that two key witnesses could come who unfortunately could not come to Today, these witnesses will be able to testify and help the court understand the essential issues that flow from this case. "
As previously stated, regardless of the Supreme Court's decision, the supreme arbiter of Vinnik's fate will be the Greek Minister of Justice, Nikos Paraskevopoulous. Paraskevopoulous has the unilateral power to sign extradition orders, and it is believed that the decision of the Supreme Court will only play a role in its decision.
Vinnik denies the charges against him and argues that he was a technician engaged in the exchange. In past interviews, Vinnik's wife has hypothesized that the United States is going after him for his technical and intellectual abilities, while others believe that the authorities just try to give him the example, as they did with Ross Ulbricht.
BTC-e, on the other hand, was at the time taken by the authorities, and subsequently denied that he had ever been employed by the company. He was then renamed and relaunched as WEX. Although it has been relaunched successfully, the exchange is also controversial, with some users claiming that their funds are stuck in limbo, while WEX accuses a third of the situation.