Alexander Vinik pleaded guilty in the US in a deal with prosecutors and is expected to be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison, according to his lawyer. He “pleaded guilty to a limited number of charges,” the agency said, citing Book, adding that Vinik faced up to life in prison. Vinik was accused of laundering more than $4 billion through the cryptocurrency bitcoin. He was arrested in 2017 in Greece, extradited to France, where he was sentenced to five years in prison for money laundering, sent back to Greece and then extradited to the US in 2022. According to the US Department of Justice, Vinik is alleged to have been the owner and operator of BTC-e, a major cybercrime and digital money laundering entity that allowed users to trade bitcoins anonymously and “developed a customer base based on criminal activity.” The maximum sentence he could have been given in the US for the charges he faced was 55 years, […]
Source: News Beast
With 6 years of experience, I bring to the table captivating and informative writing in the world news category. My expertise covers a range of industries, including tourism, technology, forex and stocks. From brief social media posts to in-depth articles, I am dedicated to creating compelling content for various platforms.
