{"id":136686,"date":"2020-12-18T18:39:11","date_gmt":"2020-12-18T15:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/vinniks-attorney-appeals-against-5-year-prison-sentence\/"},"modified":"2020-12-18T18:39:11","modified_gmt":"2020-12-18T15:39:11","slug":"vinniks-attorney-appeals-against-5-year-prison-sentence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/vinniks-attorney-appeals-against-5-year-prison-sentence\/","title":{"rendered":"# Vinnik\u2019s attorney appeals against 5-year prison sentence"},"content":{"rendered":"

“# Vinnik\u2019s attorney app<\/a>eals against 5-year prison sentence <\/strong>”
\n<\/p>\n

The defense team of Alexander Vinnik, an alleged Bitcoin\u00a0launderer who was sentenced to a five-year prison term, disagrees with the court\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

According to a Dec. 18 report<\/a> by Russian news<\/a> agency Kommersant, Vinnik\u2019s attorney Frederic Belot has appealed the French court\u2019s judgement, arguing that the defendant was not involved in any money laundering operations.<\/p>\n

Citing a Dec. 6 judgement charging Vinnik for \u201cmoney laundering as part of an organized criminal group,\u201d Belot emphasized that no \u201ccriminal group\u201d consists of one person. \u201cThe court did not name a single name even supposedly belonging to this group,\u201d Belot reportedly said.<\/p>\n

According to Belot, Vinnik was rather a victim of his anonymous \u201cemployers\u201d at now-defunct crypto exchange BTC-e, as his involvement in managing the platform has not been proved: \u201cVinnik was just a full-time trader and he did not participate, at least consciously, in any money laundering operations,\u201d Belot declared.<\/p>\n

Vinnik\u2019s defense expects the court to hear the appeal in four months, Belot noted. Lawyers also argued that the judgement by the Paris court was based on an investigation subject to interference from United States intelligence agencies. According to the report, Vinnik faces a 50-year prison term in the U.S. in the event of potential extradition.<\/p>\n

Colloquially known as \u201cMr. Bitcoin,\u201d Vinnik is the convicted creator of a global illegal scheme that laundered over $4 billion worth of capital flows through BTC-e. More than three years after his\u00a0arrest in Greece, Vinnik\u2019s trial finally happened in early December 2020. Vinnik previously denied his involvement at BTC-e, claiming that he was just an employee at the firm.<\/p>\n