A Greek court has approved France's request to extradite 38-year-old Russian Alexander Vinnik, who is suspected of cryptocurrency fraud. Vinnik is also wanted in the USA and Russia. Moscow threatens retaliatory measures.
Vinnik was arrested in Greece last year on a warrant issued by the United States.
The arrested man is considered one of the founders of the BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange. A year ago, the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) imposed a $110 million fine on BTC-e for willfully violating US law. A personal fine of $12 million was imposed on Alexander. The BTC-e domain has been blocked since July 2017, and all accounts were frozen.
In France, Vinnik is accused of cybercrimes, money laundering, and extortion.
Earlier, the Greek Supreme Court decided to approve Vinnik's extradition to the United States, where he is accused of laundering several billion dollars using cryptocurrencies. The final decision on extradition must be made by the Minister of Justice, having studied all three requests from France, the United States and Russia.
Vinnik himself denies all charges. He is currently in custody in Greece until a final decision is made.
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