The Trump administration has agreed to send the convicted money launderer back to Russia in exchange for American teacher Mark Vogel, which US officials told NBC News on Wednesday.
Alexander Vinnik is currently in US detention and awaits transport to Russia.
As part of the deal to free him, Vinnik has left $100 million worth of digital assets in the United States, officials said.
“We didn’t trade death merchants for basketball players,” a US official was arrested in 2017 in a small beachside village in northern Greece. He was taken into custody at Washington’s request. He was initially handed over to France and later to the US.
He pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with his role in the operation of the cryptocurrency exchange BTC-E between 2011 and 2017, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California. The article said in a news release at the time.
“BTC-E was one of the main ways cybercriminals around the world transferred, washed and stored criminal proceeds for illegal activities,” the release said.
The exchange said it received “many computer breach and hacking incidents, ransomware attacks, identity theft, corrupt civil servants and criminal revenue from drug distribution rings.”
Vinnik faced up to 20 years in prison and was scheduled to be sentenced in January. However, in November, a federal US judge agreed to postpone the ruling with a short order that did not cite the reason for the delay until June, according to court records, Reuters reported.
US officials said Vinnik had been traded for Mark Vogel.
Vogel, 63, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison, is the “admiration” of all staff members who helped to meet President Donald Trump when he returned to the White House and secure his release. He said. They are heroes.
Vogel maintains Russian custody as US authorities gained freedom for other well-known American detainees, including Grinner, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan. It was there.
Vogel said he needed time before discussing the conditions of his incarceration in detail, but they were difficult.
“There were times when I was trying very hard, and there were times when I could manage it,” he said. “Every second, every minute, every day was a challenge.”
Adam Berler, an envoy for the US hostage, said on Wednesday that three additional hostages, including US citizens and journalists from global news outlet Radio Liberty, were released to American custody by Belarus. He said that.
The United States did not release detainees in exchange for hostages, Borler said. He did not name any American citizens.
Bowler said the new release is a continuation of a hostage release agreement that began with the release of American Anastasia Noufer last month.
Nnamdi Egwuonwu contributed.
