Convicted Russian criminal Alexander Vinnik is being freed in swap that released American Marc Fogel, officials confirm
WASHINGTON — Convicted Russian criminal Alexander Vinnik is being freed in a swap that released Butler native Marc Fogel, sources confirmed Wednesday.
Vinnik’s name was provided by people familiar with the deal who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic details.
Vinnik was arrested in 2017 in Greece at the request of the U.S. on cryptocurrency fraud charges. He was later convicted of money laundering in France, where prosecutors accused him of extorting millions from victims using a malicious software called “Locky” that encrypted people’s data until they paid ransom in bitcoin through BTC-e, one of the world’s largest digital currency exchanges.
And then he was extradited to the U.S., where he pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was in custody in California on Wednesday awaiting transport to return to Russia, the officials said.
Fogel arrived back in the United States Tuesday night. He was greeted by President Donald Trump and enjoyed an Iron City beer upon his arrival.
In a news conference that evening at the White House, Fogel told the world how happy he was to be home and thanked those who helped make his release happen.
“I feel like the luckiest man on Earth right now,” he said.
Earlier, the Fogel family shared their excitement at a news conference held at the home of his mother, Malphine Fogel.
“We kept hoping, but it seemed to get further and further away,” Malphine Fogel said. “We prayed a lot. My entire family prayed his way out of there.”
