US Releases Russian Cybercriminal As Part of Prisoner Swap (theguardian.com) 53
The U.S. released Russian cybercriminal Alexander Vinnik, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering through his cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e, as part of a prisoner swap that freed American schoolteacher Marc Fogel from Russian custody. The Guardian reports: Vinnik, who arrived in Moscow on a flight from Turkey on Tuesday after having been released from custody in California, is accused of owning and operating one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, BTC-e, which prosecutors allege facilitated the transfer of billions of dollars in transactions for criminals worldwide. In May 2024, Vinnik pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder billions of dollars through BTC-e. He was first arrested in Greece in 2017 at the request of the United States after he was charged by a US jury in a 21-count indictment.
The charges against him included money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering, operating an unlicensed money service business and engaging in unlawful monetary transactions, among others. Vinnik was first extradited to France from Greece, where he received a five-year prison sentence for money laundering. He was then sent back to Greece and extradited to the United States in 2022 to face US charges. The justice department described BTC-e, which was active from around 2011 to 2017, as a "significant cybercrime and online money laundering entity that allowed its users to trade in bitcoin with high levels of anonymity and developed a customer base heavily reliant on criminal activity." Prosecutors say that BTC-e processed over $9 bn worth of transactions and served over 1 million users globally, including numerous customers in the US.
US prosecutors said that the exchange was one of the "primary ways by which cyber criminals around the world transferred, laundered, and stored the criminal proceeds of their illegal activities" and accused Vinnik of operating the company with the intent to "promote" unlawful activities. Prosecutors said that he was responsible for more than $120m in losses. Vinnik, who is a nonviolent offender, is forfeiting tens of millions of dollars in assets in the exchange, according to the New York Times.
The charges against him included money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering, operating an unlicensed money service business and engaging in unlawful monetary transactions, among others. Vinnik was first extradited to France from Greece, where he received a five-year prison sentence for money laundering. He was then sent back to Greece and extradited to the United States in 2022 to face US charges. The justice department described BTC-e, which was active from around 2011 to 2017, as a "significant cybercrime and online money laundering entity that allowed its users to trade in bitcoin with high levels of anonymity and developed a customer base heavily reliant on criminal activity." Prosecutors say that BTC-e processed over $9 bn worth of transactions and served over 1 million users globally, including numerous customers in the US.
US prosecutors said that the exchange was one of the "primary ways by which cyber criminals around the world transferred, laundered, and stored the criminal proceeds of their illegal activities" and accused Vinnik of operating the company with the intent to "promote" unlawful activities. Prosecutors said that he was responsible for more than $120m in losses. Vinnik, who is a nonviolent offender, is forfeiting tens of millions of dollars in assets in the exchange, according to the New York Times.
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Because they're evil?
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Pretty much this. Ie, Russia supports its criminals, as long as they only steal or murder in other countries. Thus, those criminals are valuable to Putin. Meanwhile, Russia does lock up foreigners for trivial or trumped up charges, and deliberately uses these people as bargaining tools. So yes, you have to conclude that it's evil.
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Trivial or trumped-up charges? The guy was knowingly smuggling weed into Russia, if he had been a Colombian bringing it into O'Hare Airport he would have been looking at decades in prison. He had been working in Russia for years so obviously knew it was illegal, people with medical marijuana prescriptions have been imprisoned in the US just transporting it while traveling from state to state
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14 years imprisonment for possession of 17 grams. Even under Russian law possessing this much cannabis would normally be punished with a small fine (roughly 100-300 dollars) and a suspended sentence. However they chose to prosecute this as drug *trafficking*, even though it's about 200 dollars worth of weed.
This is typical of Authoritarian regimes, to impose particularly harsh sentences individuals for political purposes under the guise of being "tough on crime". Tough it may be, but it's not the *rule o
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You don't even need to look at Trump for the dropping of the veil on different rules for different classes in the US. The affluenza case was probably the biggest, "Fuck it, he's rich," shrug the courts have ever handed out. Literally didn't even pretend that there was any other thing going on other than, "This kid is too rich to understand right from wrong, therefore, not guilty."
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In my state recreational marijuana is legal. The inconsistent application of marijuana possession laws was a major argument that swayed a lot of people who didn't like the idea of legalization.
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Would you trade a crypto-crook for a teacher?
Because Vlad asked Donald John Trump, senior. Same dude have gave orders to for two hours with no witnesses but for his translator.
OK, so we don't know that's what happened - but why no witnesses? That's not how that has worked, ever, in the past.
Why does the other side *always* get the better part of the deal?
They don't, always. Remember the Uranium deal HRC's state department negotiated? Unsaid was we did trade Uranium TO Russia. Reactor grade to Russia in exchange for weapons grade FROM Russia. So uranium that can be used to make electricity and medicine in exchange f
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Would you trade a crypto-crook for a teacher?
Cut the guy a break, his story is genuinely tragic. He spent three and a half years of his life in Russian detainment because he tried entering Russia with a little over half an ounce of pot. Because he wasn't anyone particularly famous or notable at the time, his release was a low priority for the US.
Granted, if non-US citizen tried the same thing here, they'd likely still get into some trouble too, but I'd venture a guess the outcome would be more along the lines of being denied entry (with a possible l
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For that guy being a former teacher he sure was a dumbass. Bringing weed into a country that famously still has gulags? It's not even legal to bring your weed across state lines.
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Imagine if he had been a Colombian who had flown into O'Hare with his prescription weed.
This guy is dumb enough to be a basketball player, apparently.
What did he say? (Score:5, Insightful)
That he wouldn't exchange [cnn.com] anything [yahoo.com] in a hostage deal? And certainly not cash (why would he even bring that up?).
And yet, here we are, giving up a criminal who will be greeted with open arms so he can continue where he left off: to provide Russia with much needed cash. On top of which, the orange goon cowed to Putin and gave him everything he wanted [newrepublic.com] during their phone call.
Considering he just ordered the Department of Justice to stop enforcing a law that prevents bribery toward foreign government officials [thehill.com], it makes one wonder what bribery went on that we don't know about.
Re:What did he say? (Score:4, Funny)
Yeah, we should go back to releasing international arms dealers for WNBA stars instead.
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BOTH SIIDES!!!!
The difference is that one side said he wouldn't do it, then did. That was the point being made. But yeah, Biden.
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>"The difference is that one side said he wouldn't do it, then did"
Oh, like when Biden said he wouldn't pardon his son, then did? Hmmm...
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The difference is that Max Bout is going to kill thousands of people, including possibly American service members.
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We are the people who value human life, facing scum who do not. We value the lives of our citizens, which means that the scum have a massive upper hand if we want Fogel and Griner and whatever victim they abduct next back. It's one thing to go ITG on a message board and say "well if you're dumb enough to enter Russia you take the risk," it's another to expect
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The problem is, as the good guys (and let there be no doubt here - Russia are the bad guys and the US are the good guys), what alternative is there?
The moment Russian arrested a US citizen on dodgy grounds, you ban travel to Russia. Make it clear to all US citizens that they are targets in Russia and we won't help them if they are arrested over there.
Then Russia needs to do the algebra on if it's worth the loss of tourist dollars to hold a few prisoners as bargaining chips.
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The moment Russian arrested a US citizen on dodgy grounds, you ban travel to Russia. Make it clear to all US citizens that they are targets in Russia and we won't help them if they are arrested over there.
Then Russia needs to do the algebra on if it's worth the loss of tourist dollars to hold a few prisoners as bargaining chips.
What dodgy grounds? The guy brought a half ounce of his medical weed to a country that famously still has gulags.
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What dodgy grounds? The guy brought a half ounce of his medical weed to a country that famously still has gulags.
He wasn't the first guy by a long shot.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
The list includes people bringing medical marijuana into Russia, had a prescription for it, declared it, and were cleared for entry.
It also includes a quite a few people arrested for minor crimes, then had espionage charges slapped on later.
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No, you tell your citizens not to bring drugs into a country where they're not legal. Of course the Russian government should tell its citizens not to launder money where the US can catch you. (CitiBank and Wall Street don't like the competition.)
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We are the people who value human life
There are several hundred thousand people in Gaza who would like to disagree, but they were killed by weapons that "We" provided, or were starved to death because "We" allowed it to happen, or died of easily cured diseases because "We" allowed them to be blockaded, or... And "We", almost every single one of us, knew exactly what was happening, and "We" still paid for MOST of it with our tax dollars.
Your assumption is wrong, Russia is the "bad guy", but so are we.
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The Israelis? They're not actually Americans, you know, right?
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The president cannot deliberay suspend a low, but can suspend enforcement. Not that it matters, as this president is openly violating a lot of laws with impunity.
But yes, as a business, the law is not canceled. Only congress can change the law. You can be prosecuted in the future if the administration changes its mind or someone sane gets into office.
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Anti-bribery laws have only been enforced against the "little guys". While Cheney was CEO of Halliburton the company paid $180 million in bribes to Nigerian officials, and exactly Zero happened to the company. Boeing has been known for it for decades.
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Re:What did he say? (Score:5, Insightful)
He says a lot of things.
“Grocery prices have skyrocketed,” he said.
“When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on day one,” Trump continued.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/12... [cnn.com]
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Considering Donny and Elon's investments in BTC I assume they were going to release this guy anyways (because his company drove up the value of BTC), and this was a convenient was to make it look like it was for a good reason.
So... your fever has not broken yet. (Score:1)
An American teacher has been freed after years in a Russian jail for medical pot, and the "price" paid was that the American taxpayer is no longer paying to house and feed a money launderer who was long-ago stripped of his ill-gotten gains, and YOUR first reaction is to rant about the President of The United States as "the orange goon" and cite un-related junk as ammo for your anger???
Your Yahoo link is stupid and not applicable: It's a quote of Trump from 2024 about his FIRST TERM, not his second. You pres
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This is terrible news (Score:2)
Something seriously fishy (Score:2)
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Re: Something seriously fishy (Score:2)
Why are people bringing pot into Russia? (Score:2)
These idiots are directly responsible for the release of much more dangerous people because they were too stupid to leave the pot at home. Hell, they committed crimes in Russia that would have been crimes here too. Why get them out at all?