The protection staff of Alexander Vinnik, an alleged Bitcoin launderer who was sentenced to a five-year jail time period, disagrees with the courtroom’s determination.

In keeping with a Dec. 18 report by Russian information company Kommersant, Vinnik’s legal professional Frederic Belot has appealed the French courtroom’s judgement, arguing that the defendant was not concerned in any cash laundering operations.

Citing a Dec. 6 judgement charging Vinnik for “cash laundering as a part of an organized legal group,” Belot emphasised that no “legal group” consists of 1 individual. “The courtroom didn’t title a single title even supposedly belonging to this group,” Belot reportedly mentioned.

In keeping with Belot, Vinnik was reasonably a sufferer of his nameless “employers” at now-defunct crypto trade BTC-e, as his involvement in managing the platform has not been proved: “Vinnik was only a full-time dealer and he didn’t take part, no less than consciously, in any cash laundering operations,” Belot declared.

Vinnik’s protection expects the courtroom to listen to the enchantment in 4 months, Belot famous. Attorneys additionally argued that the judgement by the Paris courtroom was based mostly on an investigation topic to interference from United States intelligence businesses. In keeping with the report, Vinnik faces a 50-year jail time period within the U.S. within the occasion of potential extradition.

Colloquially often known as “Mr. Bitcoin,” Vinnik is the convicted creator of a world unlawful scheme that laundered over $4 billion price of capital flows by way of BTC-e. Greater than three years after his arrest in Greece, Vinnik’s trial lastly occurred in early December 2020. Vinnik beforehand denied his involvement at BTC-e, claiming that he was simply an worker on the agency.