back to article To Russia, with love: Greek court now says Bitcoin fraud suspect could be tried at home

A judicial appeals court in Thessaloniki, Greece, has backed Moscow's extradition request for Russian citizen and suspected Bitcoin launderer Alexander Vinnik, The Greek Observer reports. Last week a Thessaloniki court ruled he should be extradited to the US, a decision he is challenging at Greece's supreme court. Vinnik was …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Can't they share him? Russia can have him at weekends, America during the week.

    Where there is a problem there is always a solution.

    1. Andromeda451

      let Russia have him..

      He won't like Russian jails nearly as much as he'd like prison in the USA.

    2. phuzz Silver badge

      $4B worth of bitcoin would be pretty helpful for the Greek economy...

    3. This post has been deleted by its author

  2. The Man Who Fell To Earth Silver badge
    WTF?

    What's the going "price" of justice in Greece these days?

    And do they take cash or only bitcoin?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: What's the going "price" of justice in Greece these days?

      Once the supreme court appeal is complete, Greece's minister of justice will ultimately decide which extradition brown envelope to accept.

      1. GidaBrasti
        Alien

        Re: What's the going "price" of justice in Greece these days?

        I'm afraid you give too much credit to the Greek minister of Justice.

        1. Jim Mitchell

          Re: What's the going "price" of justice in Greece these days?

          @GidaBrasti "I'm afraid you give too much credit to the Greek minister of Justice."

          What decent minister accepts credit for bribes? Cash or equivalents only, please.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    There is more to this story than it seems at first glance

    4 bn USD laundered that came from (amongst other things) hacking related extortions and similar scams etc. etc. This guy is really wanted by the US in order to see if he can offer any clues to the hacking of the DNA and the bots that flooded the net with fake news before the US election.

    Isn't that strange that Moscow only wants him on trumped up charges of a minor fraud? They really want to get him back and away from the prying eyes of US law enforcement.

    The story is not over yet. The justice minister is a nobody. Tsipras is twice a nobody and he is seeing Trump in a week or so (that makes it a 12 x nobody chalibre meeting). Guess which will be one of the first subjects of discussion (right after the tremendously great job Trump is doing for America, the world and the Alpha Quadrant). My money is on the Rusky going to America.

  4. herman

    Simple solution - send his top half to Russia and bottom half to the USA.

  5. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

    "Once the supreme court appeal is complete, Greece's minister of justice will ultimately decide which extradition to accept."

    Well, he can always just flip a coin...

  6. anonymous boring coward Silver badge

    Isn't Russia a dictatorship with sketchy rule of law?

    Also, Russia has the death sentence (decided by Putin, executed by former KGB).

    1. anonymous boring coward Silver badge

      Downvoted? I'm pretty sure I only spoke the truth!

      Putinbots here?

      1. mhenriday
        Boffin

        «I'm pretty sure I only spoke the truth !» ?

        With respect to capital punishment in Russia, the English-language version of Wikipedia has the following to say :

        The current Penal Code[11] permits death penalty for five crimes:

        murder, with certain aggravating circumstances (article 105.2)

        encroachment on the Life of a Person Administering Justice or Engaged in a Preliminary Investigation (article 295)

        encroachment on the Life of an Officer of a Law-enforcement Agency (article 317)

        encroachment on the Life of a Statesman or a Public Figure (article 277)

        genocide (section 357).

        According to the same source, the death penalty has not been imposed in Russia since 1999....

        The article on the corresponding situation in the United States starts as follows :

        Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the United States, currently used by 31 states, the federal government, and the military. ... The United States is the only Western country currently applying the death penalty,one of 57 countries worldwide applying it.

        ...

        Since then [i e, 1976], more than 7,800 defendants have been sentenced to death; of these, more than 1,400 have been executed, 159 were exonerated before their execution, and more than 2,900 are still on death row.

        Under these circumstances, perhaps Gospodin Vinnik's preference for being tried in a Russian court is understandable....

        But, of course, Wikipedia is a «Putinbot» and boring anonymous cowards only speak the truth....

        Henri

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