The ruling appears to resolve a legal tug-of-war in which the court also had to consider rival extradition requests from Russia and the United States.
ADVERTISEMENT
Greek court orders extradition to France of Russian Bitcoin suspect
The Greek Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the extradition to France of Russian Alexander Vinnik, who headed the Bitcoin exchange BTC-e, on suspicion of money laundering, judicial sources said.
Russian Alexander Vinnik, centre, has been held in custody since his arrest last year on suspicion of money laundering
Vinnik has been held in custody since his arrest in July 2017 at the northern Greek tourist resort of Halkidiki.
In an October 2017 ruling the court accepted the extradition request from Moscow, having earlier favoured the US request.
But on Wednesday it decided he should instead be sent to France since Paris had submitted a European Arrest Warrant against him that offered a more direct procedure, one of the sources said.
ADVERTISEMENT
The French warrant says Alexander Vinnik had defrauded more than 100 people in six French cities between 2016 and 2018.
BTC-e, founded in 2011, became one of the world's largest and most widely used digital currency exchanges.
JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!
ADVERTISEMENT
Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:
Email: eyewitness@pulse.com.gh
Recommended articles
OSP’s request for money laundering probe against Cecilia Dapaah baseless – AG to EOCO
Ghana Armed Forces gives details of soldier killed at Kasoa: 'We're investigating'
Don’t vote for Mahama because he won’t be accountable to Ghanaians – Dr. Boako
Power outages in Accra on May Day was due to flooded substations – ECG
Akuffo Addo to inaugurate 120 homes for Appiatse disaster victims
Ghana records 31 new COVID-19 cases
Nana Addo's claim that dumsor will not return untrue — IES
Government disburses GH¢170 million for mixed tiers healthcare providers