The post Trump exchanged crypto laundering Russian prisoner for American teacher Marc Fogel appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

President Donald Trump authorized a high-stakes prisoner swap, exchanging Russian cybercriminal Alexander Vinnik for American teacher Marc Fogel, according to a report from The Post on Wednesday. The deal, finalized in the past few days, secured Fogel’s release after more than three years in a Russian prison while Vinnik, who laundered $9 billion  in crypto, was returned to Moscow. The swap took place without prior public notice. Fogel arrived back in the US on Tuesday night, stepping on American soil for the first time since his 2021 arrest in Russia on drug charges. Vinnik’s crypto empire and his road to extradition Vinnik was first arrested in Greece in 2017 at the request of US authorities. The Russian ran BTC-e, an infamous crypto exchange that processed more than $9 billion in transactions of funds linked to cybercrime, hacks, and dark web markets. The US accused him of facilitating large-scale money laundering operations and failing to register BTC-e as a money services business despite serving American customers. After years of legal battles over his extradition, Vinnik was sent to France, where he was convicted of money laundering in 2020 and sentenced to five years in prison. In 2022, Vinnik was extradited to the US and faced charges in San Francisco, where he pleaded guilty in May 2024 to conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was awaiting sentencing when the Trump administration approved his transfer back to Russia. According to the Post, White House official justified the swap, saying, “We view this as a very fair deal. We are not trading the Merchant of Death for a basketball player,” referring to Biden’s 2022 decision to exchange convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout for WNBA star Brittney Griner. “Vinnick is currently in custody in Northern California, awaiting transportation back to Russia.” Fogel lands in US,…

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Filed under: News - @ February 12, 2025 7:21 pm