A Russian national has guilty of his role in a large conspiracy of money laundering linked to the notorious BTC-e Cryptocurrency exchange.
Alexander Vinnik, 44, was one of the operators of the exchange of the launch in 2011 until when law enforcement officers closed it in 2017, according to the Ministry of Justice (DOJ).
During that time it processed more than $ 9 billion in transactions and it served more than a million users worldwide, many of whom were cyber criminals who wanted to clean the proceeds of their illegal activity.
It is claimed that Vinnik has caused criminal losses of more than $ 120 million by enabling criminals to wash the proceeds from computer intrusions, ransomware, identity theft schemes, corrupt officials and distribution rings in the drugs.
Read more about BTC-E: Police seize the alleged Bitcoin Raider’s $ 90 million in assets
BTC-E did business in the US, but was not officially registered as a money service company with the anti-money laundering practices guided by the US (AML) organization The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN). There were no AML or Know-Your-Customer (KYC) processes as required by the federal law-in fact BTC-E collected almost no customer information.
According to the DOJ, BTC-E Shell companies and affiliated companies that also did not have AML or Fincen registration to help transfer funds all over the world.
“Today’s result shows how the Ministry of Justice, together with international partners, reaches around the world to combat crypto crime,” said deputy attorney-general Lisa Monaco. “This guilty plea reflects the constant dedication of the department to use all tools to combat money laundering, the crypto markets of the police and to reclaim a refund for victims.”
Vinnik was first arrested in 2017 in Greece, but was then confronted with a three-way strangling about extradition with Russia, the US and France who all tried to try him. France eventually won that struggle and Vinnik was sentenced there in 2020 to a few years behind bars.
Last year, another Russian National, Alexey Bilyuchenko was sued in connection with the stealing of millions of Ter Siele Crypto exchange MT GOX and conspiracy with Alexander Vinnik to exploit BTC-E from 2011 to 2017. It was claimed that he used some of these funds to launch BTC-E.