Scams are, unfortunately, still the order of the day within the crypto industry. Investors should always be wary of scammers and fraudsters who target their hard-earned cryptocurrencies.
One of those scammers is the Russian Alexander Vinnik, he founded one of the first bitcoin (BTC) exchanges, BTC-e, ever on and this exchange was involved in the infamous Mt. Gox hack, which is still one of the biggest hacks ever in the history of the crypto industry.
Bitcoin scammer Vinnik must come to the fore
At least 744,000 BTC was stolen from Mt. Gox and most of the cash captured here have never been returned to their rightful owners. BTC-e would have played a role in this hack. In addition, BTC-e is also said to have engaged in a long list of other illegal practices. Finally, Alexander Vinnik was arrested in Greece in 2017 for his role at BTC-e, while he was on holiday here with his family.
He has since been detained in Greece and France. In addition, more countries, including Russia and the United States, fought each other over extradition for various reasons. All three countries apparently still had a bone to pick with Vinnik. Until recently, Vinnik was in French custody. Here he was also sentenced in 2020 to 5 years in prison for money laundering.
Extradition to the US
Vinnik’s criminal trial now seems to be changing. According to a French lawyer for Vinnik, Frederic Berlot, Vinnik will be extradited to the United States, that reports CNN.
Vinnik has been suspected of a number of serious crimes in the United States since 2020. He would be responsible for ransomware attacks, hacking, identity theft, bribing government officials and even drug trafficking. Most likely, Vinnik will be convicted in the United States for several more of these offenses and may face a substantial prison sentence on top of the five years he already has.
