The founding father of now-defunct BTC-e cryptocurrency Alexander Vinnik has been despatched to 5 yr in jail together with a high quality of 100,000 euros for laundering funds for cybercriminals, together with ransomware teams, the media reported on Tuesday.
A French court docket despatched Alexander Vinnik, 41, a Russian nationwide, despatched him to jail. The prosecutors, nonetheless, did not show that the BTC-e founder was instantly concerned within the creation and distribution of Locky, a ransomware that was lively in 2016 and 2017, reviews ZDNet.
The US authorities had mentioned earlier that Vinnik operated BTC-e as a entrance firm for a money-laundering operation, knowingly receiving funds from hacks and different types of cybercrime.
“Mr Vinnik, the court docket acquitted you of the offenses regarding the cyber-attacks linked to Locky, in addition to the offenses of extortion and affiliation to prison actions, however finds you responsible of organized cash laundering,” the French decide mentioned.
He was arrested in July 2017 whereas vacationing in a summer time resort in northern Greece.
As quickly as Vinnik’s arrest turned public, Russian authorities additionally filed an extradition request of their very own, claiming that Vinnik was additionally a suspect in an investigation in Russia in relation to a 2013 fraud cost.
“The BTC-e founder at present stays underneath arrest, and each the US and Russia have filed new extradition requests with France, nonetheless hoping to get Vinnik to face expenses of their respective jurisdictions,” the report mentioned.
The US authorities alleged that Vinnik’s BTC-e platform helped criminals launder greater than $4 billion in unlawful funds.
(Solely the headline and film of this report could have been reworked by the Enterprise Commonplace workers; the remainder of the content material is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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