Alleged Bitcoin Launderer’s Lawyer Seeks Prisoner Swap With Russia

Alexander Vinnik, the alleged bitcoin launderer who was recently extradited to the United States after more than five years of trials, is trying to find a way home to Russia.

His French lawyer Frédéric Bélot asked Russia to broker a deal with the United States that involves Vinnik’s release as part of a prisoner swap.

Bélot wrote in a letter seen by Blockworks that “the only thing that can save Alexander” is Russian negotiations with the United States. The letter, addressed to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, describes his client’s journey from detention to extradition arrest.

Reuters first reported the news on Tuesday.

Bélot’s request comes about a month after US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Washington made a “significant offer” to Russia to release US citizens held there. Blinken’s offer involved WNBA star Brittney Griner and former US Marine Paul Whelan, who is being held in Moscow on separate charges.

Vinnik was charged in 2017 under a 21-count indictment for allegedly laundering over $4 billion of bitcoin through his crypto exchange BTC-e. The Justice Department said he also obtained funds from Mt. Gox hacked and laundered these through various exchanges.

Chief Don Fort of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation said Vinnik “stolen identities, facilitated drug trafficking and helped launder criminal proceeds from syndicates around the world.”

He was then arrested in Greece at the request of the United States that same year while in a beach village with his family. The US, France and Russia had fought for his extradition – and in 2020 he finally moved to prison in France.

He was then briefly sent back to Athens, from where he was extradited to the United States last month. The attorney told Blockworks in an email at the time that he would continue to defend Vinnik alongside U.S. attorneys.

Vinnik denies that he has laundered bitcoin

Vinnik has never accepted the allegations against him, and his lawyer says he continues to deny all charges against him.

In particular, the lawyer’s letter stated that Vinnik’s prison sentence in France was stressful – with psychiatrists determining that he was facing episodic memory loss. The lawyer also stated that Vinnik’s wife, Alexandra, died in November 2020 at the age of 34 after undergoing six operations for an unspecified illness.

Vinnik had asked French authorities for permission to travel to Russia for his wife’s funeral, but it was “firmly refused”, the lawyer said.

The letter further notes that Vinnik’s children have stopped asking when he comes home as the separation has been extensive.

He faces a maximum sentence of 55 years on charges of operating an unlicensed money services business, conspiracy to commit money laundering and engaging in illegal money transactions. Bélot reportedly described the term as akin to a life sentence.

The Russian Foreign Ministry did not return Blockworks’ request for comment by press time.

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