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Russian Embassy requests phone conversation with arrested Russian national

The Russian Embassy in the US intends to provide legal and consular support to Russian citizen Alexander Vinnik, head of the consular department of Russia’s embassy in Washington told

WASHINGTON, August 9. /TASS/. The Russian Embassy in the US intends to provide legal and consular support to Russian citizen Alexander Vinnik who was earlier extradited from Greece to the United States and is currently arranging for a phone conversation with him, Nadezhda Shumova, head of the consular department of Russia’s embassy in Washington, told TASS on Monday.

"We are trying to arrange a phone conversation with the compatriot. We will provide him with the necessary consular and legal aid," she noted. US authorities told Russian diplomats that Vinnik is at the Santa Rita jail in California. The embassy continues to closely monitor the situation.

A court representative told TASS that Vinnik pled not guilty in California on Monday.

On July 25, 2017, Alexander Vinnik, a Russian IT specialist, was detained during his vacation in Greece at the request of the United States, where he is accused of laundering $4-9 bln through the no longer existing crypto exchange BTC-e.

On December 19, 2019, Greek Justice Minister Konstantionos Tsiaras ruled that Vinnik be extradited first to France, then to the United States and eventually to Russia. In December 2020, a Paris court sentenced him to five years in prison and ordered a fine of more than 100,000 euros.

Vinnik himself said back in Greece that he would agree to return to Russia and stand a court trial in his homeland. In Russia, he is charged with the embezzlement of over 600,000 rubles (more than $9,900) and computer fraud worth 750,000 million rubles (some $12.4 mln).

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