Alexander Vinnik, who has been serving a term in France since 2020, has made several flights in recent days. On Thursday, August 4, French law enforcement sent him to Greece. And already on Friday night, their Greek colleagues transferred him further to the United States: from Athens, he flew to Boston and then to San Francisco, RIA Novosti was told in the Russian family.

Vinnik’s French lawyer also told CNN that his client was immediately deported from Greece to the United States. Vinnik’s mother confirmed this information to the BBC. nine0011

The American authorities have been trying to achieve this for five years, which Vinnik desperately resisted. The BBC recalls the main stages of the confrontation.

Why Vinnik was arrested

On July 25, 2017, Alexander Vinnik was arrested on the beach of one of the resorts on the Greek peninsula of Chalkidiki, where he was vacationing with his wife and two sons.

The Greek security forces came for him, but the FBI sent a request for his arrest: in the United States, he is suspected of creating and administering the BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange, which was one of the ten largest crypto platforms in the world with a daily turnover of $66 million. nine0011

Since the exchange did not comply with money laundering laws — for example, trading from anonymous accounts was possible there — the entire circulation of BTC-e was classified as illegal by the US authorities. The Court of the Northern District of California estimated it at $9 billion, and the press release of the US Department of Justice indicated the amount of $4 billion. It is this amount that is most often called in the media when they describe the essence of the claims against Vinnik.

In addition, according to the US authorities, bitcoins stolen from the once largest Japanese crypto exchange Mt.Gox were laundered through BTC-e. nine0011

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Vinnik himself says that he only advised BTC-e, although several journalistic investigations — for example, RBC magazine — show that his involvement in the affairs of the exchange was deeper.

How much Vinnik spent in Greece

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Vinnik’s defense, represented by Russian lawyer Timofey Musatov, chose tactics to delay the extradition process to the United States as much as possible: each decision was appealed to higher authorities, and from the prison in Thessaloniki, where Vinnik was held, he was regularly taken to Athens , where the Areopagus, the highest court of cassation in Greece, is located. nine0011

In Russia, two criminal cases were initiated against the Russian, in both he was suspected of fraud, and one appeared after his «surrender» in absentia. Corresponding requests for his extradition went to Greece, which were granted. A case has also been opened in France.

All three extradition requests — American, Russian and French — were granted by the Greek authorities, but the Greek side could not decide for a long time where to send Mister Bitcoin, as he was called by the local press. nine0011

As a result, in early 2020, Vinnik was sent to France, where he was accused of identity theft and extortion and sentenced to five years in prison.

During the years of ordeals in prisons, Vinnik managed to starve several times (during one of the hunger strikes he lost more than 20 kilograms), his wife fell ill with brain cancer and died in Germany, as his mother told RIA Novosti.

And his permanent lawyer Timofey Musatov, who, thanks to his connections, even brought Vinnik on live radio to Vladimir Solovyov directly from a Greek prison, died in the spring of 2020 after falling down the stairs in his office. nine0011

How Vinnik from France ended up in the USA

In the summer of 2022, Vinnik’s sentence in a French prison expired, after which a series of lawsuits for his extradition began again. The scheme is complex.

Image copyright, SAKIS MITROLIDIS/AFP via Getty Images

Image caption,

Vinnik arrives at a court hearing in Thessaloniki in 2017

On August 4, a court in Paris denied US authorities’ request to extradite Vinnik to the United States, but his defense immediately warned that he could be sent there in transit through Greece, where there was another valid request. nine0011

And so it turned out in the end, although his Greek lawyers met Vinnik right at the airport. In the United States, he faces a total sentence of over 50 years: American money laundering legislation is quite tough.

Both Vinnik himself and former BTC-e clients believe that the American authorities may be interested in who from the Russian elite used the exchange for money laundering: in the heyday of the crypto site, there was such a service as «cash delivery in Moscow» — the courier came and took the money, and bitcoins were credited to the client’s account. nine0011

In 2011, an exchange was launched to sell the BTC-e cryptocurrency (BTC is the accepted designation for bitcoin). The exchange quickly became popular, largely due to the absence of any user verification system: in order to sell or buy cryptocurrency, it was enough to provide an email address.

It was the anonymity that made BTC-e a popular platform among cyber scammers, according to the US authorities. Through it, for example, 530 thousand bitcoins stolen from the Japanese cryptocurrency platform Mt.Gox were laundered, follows from the American indictment. nine0011

According to calculations by US law enforcement agencies accusing Vinnik of creating an illegal crypto-exchange, from the moment the exchange was launched to the time the exchange was closed, at least $4 billion worth of bitcoins were sold on it.

On October 8, 2021, the Russian authorities added BBC correspondent Andrey Zakharov to the register of media outlets acting as a foreign agent. On January 17, 2022, this status was suspended by a court decision until the end of the process on the lawsuit filed by Andrey.

Spain will ask the EC to extend the Iberian gas price cap mechanism :59+03:00

2023

https://1prime.ru/gas/20230109/839420310.html

Spain will ask the EC to extend the Iberian gas price cap mechanism

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The Spanish government will ask Brussels to extend the so-called Iberian mechanism used in Spain and Portugal to limit gas prices, at least… PRIME, 01/09/2023

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Spain will ask the EC to extend the Iberian GAZ price restrictions

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MADRID, Jan 9 — PRIME The Spanish government will ask Brussels to extend the so-called Iberian mechanism used in Spain and Portugal to cap gas prices until at least the end of 2024, the vice premier said on Monday, Spanish Minister of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge Teresa Ribera in an interview with Antena 3.

The Moldovan government was urged to justify high gas prices

In May, Spain and Portugal reached an agreement with the European Commission on the creation of the Iberian Mechanism. This is a temporary emergency measure that recognizes countries as an energy island, allowing for exceptional measures to reduce electricity prices.

«We want to continue to use this exceptional measure that we use in Spain and Portugal, and which in principle should only be valid until May (2023). Therefore, we intend to ask that this Iberian mechanism continue to operate,» said Ribera . nine0011

It is planned that the gas price limit will be at the level of current indicators, in the amount of 45-50 euros per megawatt-hour. Ribera noted that Spain will advocate for the preservation of this mechanism until the European Union reforms the regulation of the electricity market in Europe, which, according to her, may take a long time.

Earlier today, Sanchez announced that on Tuesday the Spanish Council of Ministers will discuss the reform of the electricity market, which he plans to send to Brussels in the future.