The post Trump Secures Release of Russian Bitcoin Fraudster Alexander Vinnik in Exchange for Marc Fogel appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News
In a recent development, as per a recent Newyork post, President Trump facilitated a prisoner swap, where Russian prisoner Alexander Vinnik was exchanged for American teacher Marc Fogel. Vinnik had been arrested in 2017 in Greece and was later sent to the US and France to face charges related to fraud and money laundering. Before his arrest, Vinnik was in charge of a cryptocurrency exchange called BTC-e, which was involved in handling over $9 billion in transactions.
In December 2020, Vinnik was convicted in France for money laundering and sentenced to five years in prison. In May 2024, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in a San Francisco federal court.
Vinnik did not register BTC-e as a money services business in the US, even though he had American customers. The DOJ highlighted his case to show its global reach in fighting cybercrime. Fogel returned to the US on Tuesday after being held in Russia for three and a half years on marijuana charges.
