Cyprus Court Dropped All Charges Against Alexander Vinnik
Btc-e operator Alexander Vinnik who was previously charged for money laundering, fraud, and other serious crimes in Cyprus, has had all charges against him dropped by the court. The decision to drop the case was as a result of efforts and agreement from both the defendant and plaintiffs.
Plaintiffs Agreed to Dissolve the Case
According to the court papers, Alexander was accused of operating Btc-e; the exchange used for laundering cryptos stolen during the Mt. Gox exchange hack.
Vinnik’s head of legal counsel, Timofei Musatov made it known that the plaintiffs decided to strike the case out of court, mainly because the case fell apart at the very early stage. He made this known in a statement which reads: “A court session of the Limassol District Court was held on November 27, 2018, where the plaintiffs withdrew the action to accuse Alexander Vinnik of fraud, money laundering and other grave crimes.”
Musatov also described how satisfied he is with the outcome of the case. He added that “not only formally satisfied the motion, but also made the decision on the compensation of all legal costs the defendant incurred.”
He also took the opportunity to throw jabs at other accusers a statement. He said that:
“[This] proves the weakness of accusations against Alexander, a vulnerability of plaintiffs’ legal position and their unwillingness to get the case as far as an open legal battle.”
Alexander Vinnik Said he is Not at Fault
Since his arrest on July 25, 2018, in Greece based on a warrant issued by the Department of Justice in the United States of America issued, Vinnik who was accused laundering around $4 billion and $9 billion, Vinnick has made it known that he was just a technical expert at BTC-e, on not the owner of the operation. He also declared that he hasn’t committed any of the charges levelled against him. He made this known in a statement which reads: “I gave some advice to that platform. That’s not a crime, and the exchange itself is not a crime, it is just a platform for exchanging cryptocurrency.”
Recently, Vinnick decided to go on a hunger strike for some days. According to his legal counsel, Vinnick is protecting against unfair hearing and abuse of his human rights.
