US informs Russian Embassy of Vinnik's arrest, diplomats to provide assistance: Mission

The United States has informed the Russian Embassy in Washington of the arrest of Russian citizen Alexander Vinnik, and diplomats stand ready to provide him with legal assistance, the diplomatic mission announced on Friday.

Washington [US], August 5 (ANI/Sputnik): The United States has informed the Russian Embassy in Washington of the arrest of Russian citizen Alexander Vinnik, and diplomats stand ready to provide him with legal assistance, the diplomatic mission announced on Friday. On Friday, Vinnik's family said that Vinnik was taken from Greece to Boston on a private plane and then transported to San Francisco.

"[T]he diplomatic mission is closely monitoring the situation related to the extradition of Russian citizen Vinnik to the United States," the statement said. "In the morning, information was received from the American authorities about the arrest of the Russian citizen. We have requested information from the State Department about his whereabouts and the lawyers working with him. The detainee will be provided with all the necessary consular and legal assistance, a telephone conversation will be organized." Vinnik was detained in Greece in 2017 at the request of the US, which accused him of laundering USD 4 billion worth of funds through a cryptocurrency trading platform. In the US, Vinnik faces 55 years in prison. France also filed charges against Vinnik. On January 23, 2020, Vinnik was extradited to France, where he was sentenced to five years in prison and a 100,000 euro (USD 119,433) fine in December that year. Vinnik has denied committing any criminal or administrative offences.

After serving his sentence in France, Vinnik was returned to Greece. (ANI/Sputnik)

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