Foreign Affairs
Russian Accused Of Laundering $4 Billion Of Bitcoin Arrested
No featured image available
Greek authorities reportedly announced Wednesday that they arrested a Russian man accused of being the architect of a money laundering scheme involving more than $4 billion in virtual currency.
The U.S. is planning on extraditing the suspect, 38-year-old Alexander Vinnik, according to Reuters. Greek police apprehended him on an American warrant after law enforcement officials received a tip.
Vinnik is the suspected mastermind behind a large systematic arrangement in which crypto-currencies, like bitcoin, were exchanged anonymously with other more legitimate forms of money. By managing and operating the illicit platform, he allegedly helped launder $4 billion.
“Since 2011 the 38-year-old has been running a criminal organization which administers one of the most important websites of electronic crime in the world,” Greek police said in a statement, according to Reuters.
The arrest of Vinnik is just one recent example of the U.S. and other international police agencies trying to crack down on nefarious cyber criminals abroad. The U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday that, along with the help of other departments around the world, it helped shut down the notorious AlphaBay, a major online criminal black market.
Send tips to [email protected].
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].