Alexander Vinnik, the Russian operator of the now-defunct BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange, has reportedly been released from U.S. custody in a prisoner swap for American school teacher Marc Fogel, according to media reports citing anonymous U.S. officials. Vinnik, who initially denied being the BTC-e operator, was arrested in Greece in 2017 before being extradited to France, where the local court accused him of hacking several thousand email accounts and extorting money from their owners. During the previous exchange, the U.S. released Russian hackers, spies, and an assassin in exchange for Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Marine veteran Paul Whelan, Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, and others. According to several U.S. media reports, Vinnik must forfeit $100 million of his criminal proceeds seized by the American government as part of the exchange. The Department of Justice called BTC-e “a significant cybercrime and online money laundering entity that allowed its users to trade in bitcoin with high levels of anonymity and developed a customer base heavily reliant on criminal activity.” At least $4 billion was through BTC-e, the department said. If released, Vinnik would be the third Russian facing criminal charges in the U.S. for cyber-related crimes to be released as part of a prisoner swap. He was later returned to Greece before being extradited to the U.S. Meanwhile, Russia also requested that Greek authorities send Vinnik to his home country to face charges for a smaller fraud. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that Moscow had secured the release of a Russian citizen held in the U.S. in exchange for Fogel. Vinnik’s French lawyer, Frederic Belot, confirmed his client’s release to the Russian state news agency TASS on Wednesday. The platform “received criminal proceeds of numerous computer intrusions and hacking incidents, ransomware attacks, identity theft schemes, corrupt public officials, and narcotics distribution rings,” the DOJ said at the time. The U.S. had previously designated him as “wrongfully detained.” Fogel returned to the U.S. on Tuesday night and was greeted by President Donald Trump, who said that Fogel's release "could be a big important part" of ending the Ukraine war.
This Cyber News was published on therecord.media. Publication date: Wed, 12 Feb 2025 19:39:20 +0000