The Russian faces up to 10 years in prison for blackmail and organized money laundering.
The Paris prosecutor's office on Wednesday, July 22, filed a motion to start a lawsuit against the Russian cybercriminal Alexander Vinnik, accused of creating the BTC-E cryptocurrency exchange, which he used for illegal exchange and money laundering, and the French authorities for fraud. Vinnik was also charged with stealing personal data of citizens, which he then returned for money, the French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. The Russian faces up to 10 years in prison for blackmail and organized money laundering.
According to the indictment document, the Russian is also accused of involvement in the creation of the software extorsive Locky, the victims of which in 2016 began to many users. Locky encrypted and added * .locky extension to files on the system. To restore access to information, the user had to send a certain amount of funds in bitcoins to the attacker. According to AFP, the total damage to businesses and private users amounted to 135 million euros.
Vinnik, 37, was detained in Greece on July 25, 2017 at the request of the American authorities. Two laptops, two tablets, five phones, a router, a camera and four credit cards were confiscated in his hotel room.
In December 2019, the Minister of Justice of Greece Kostas Tsiaras receivedthe decision on the successive extradition of Vinnik to France, the USA and the Russian Federation. In January 2020, the Greek Supreme Court rejected the latest appeal by Vinnik's lawyers against this decision. A few hours later, Vinnik was sent by plane to Paris.
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The Paris prosecutor's office on Wednesday, July 22, filed a motion to start a lawsuit against the Russian cybercriminal Alexander Vinnik, accused of creating the BTC-E cryptocurrency exchange, which he used for illegal exchange and money laundering, and the French authorities for fraud. Vinnik was also charged with stealing personal data of citizens, which he then returned for money, the French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. The Russian faces up to 10 years in prison for blackmail and organized money laundering.
According to the indictment document, the Russian is also accused of involvement in the creation of the software extorsive Locky, the victims of which in 2016 began to many users. Locky encrypted and added * .locky extension to files on the system. To restore access to information, the user had to send a certain amount of funds in bitcoins to the attacker. According to AFP, the total damage to businesses and private users amounted to 135 million euros.
Vinnik, 37, was detained in Greece on July 25, 2017 at the request of the American authorities. Two laptops, two tablets, five phones, a router, a camera and four credit cards were confiscated in his hotel room.
In December 2019, the Minister of Justice of Greece Kostas Tsiaras receivedthe decision on the successive extradition of Vinnik to France, the USA and the Russian Federation. In January 2020, the Greek Supreme Court rejected the latest appeal by Vinnik's lawyers against this decision. A few hours later, Vinnik was sent by plane to Paris.
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