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Moscow insists on Vinnik’s extradition to Russia, diplomat says

Earlier in the day, the Paris Criminal Court sentenced to five years for aggravated money laundering

PARIS, December 7. /TASS/. Russian national Alexander Vinnik should be extradited from France to Russia in order to face justice at home, Russian Consul Alexei Popov told reporters on Monday.

Earlier in the day, the Paris Criminal Court sentenced to five years for aggravated money laundering. However, Vinnik was cleared of some money laundering charges and acquitted of charges of actions aimed at disrupting the operation of automated processing systems and using the Loki malware for cyber attacks. The court also sentenced Vinnik to a total fine of over 100,000 euros, which includes compensations to the injured parties.

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French court sentences Russian national to five years for money laundering

"Russia has repeatedly requested his extradition and we continue to insist that he should be extradited to Russia," Popov pointed out. "He is a Russian national and does not hold other citizenships. It would be logical to try him in Russia, particularly because he worked only in Russia," the consul added. "There is every indication that it is a politicized trial. Had it been about a serious investigation of crimes related to a cryptocurrency exchange and the Loki malware, they should have requested information from Russia. But no one was willing to cooperate, Popov noted.

Vinnik case

Vinnik was detained in Greece in July 2017 at the request of the United States, where he is accused of laundering four to nine bln dollars through the now non-existent BTC-e cryptocurrency trading platform. In December 2019, the Greek justice minister made decisions to extradite him first to France and then to United States and Russia. Vinnik denied charges brought by Washington and Paris, saying he was willing to be extradited to Russia.

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