Lawyer Confirms US Has Dropped Vinnik Case, Client ‘Has a Clean Slate’

Alexander Vinnik’s lawyer has confirmed that the United States has “dropped” the case against the former operations and finance director of the defunct crypto exchange platform BTC-e, following Vinnik’s release last week.

Per the Russian state-run news agency TASS, lawyer Arkady Bukh said that the Northern District of California had confirmed it was withdrawing all charges against Vinnik.

Alexander Vinnik’s Release a ‘Great and Unique Victory,’ Lawyer Claims

Vinnik was freed in a prisoner swap with the American teacher Marc Fogel. Bukh said:

“The judge has granted our request, and the case has been declassified. We managed to reach an agreement with the prosecutor’s office. At the hearing, the prosecutor’s office agreed to drop the charges. Our client now has a clean slate in America.”

The lawyer also called the verdict “a unique and rare situation,” adding: “We perceive this to be a great victory.”

Prosecutors claim that criminals used BTC-e as a money-laundering platform, primarily using Bitcoin (BTC) transactions.

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Vinnik Now ‘Free to Go to Europe if He Wants,’ Says Lawyer

Vinnik worked at BTC-e from 2011 to 2017. Greek police arrested him while he was on vacation in the country in 2017. He was later extradited to the US in August 2022.

Officials in the US said that Vinnik oversaw money laundering transactions worth between $4 billion and $9 billion.

But Bukh hailed Vinnik’s rapid reversal of fortune. The lawyer said that “if Vinnik wanted to,” he was now free to travel “to Europe.”

Bukh said that immigration officials in Europe would not be able to refuse entry to Vinnik “on the grounds that he was a defendant in an American court.”

“According to US law, a person who has been cleared of legal charges has the right to claim that they were never arrested. [It would be as if Vinnik] had never been charged with anything.”

Russian lawyer Arkady Bukh

Prisoner Exchange

Vinnik was returned to Russia on Thursday last week, days after Vogel’s release. Russian police had detained Vogel on charges of drug smuggling.

The Kremlin was quoted as calling the prisoner exchange “a step toward increasing mutual trust with Washington.”

The Russian Embassy in the United States last year claimed it had visited Vinnik in prison in California and was “working to free” the former crypto exchange exec.