Wednesday, April 14, 2021
  • Setup menu at Appearance » Menus and assign menu to Top Bar Navigation
Advertisement
  • AI Development
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Machine Learning
    • Neural Networks
    • Learn to Code
  • Data
    • Blockchain
    • Big Data
    • Data Science
  • IT Security
    • Internet Privacy
    • Internet Security
  • Marketing
    • Digital Marketing
    • Marketing Technology
  • Technology Companies
  • Crypto News
No Result
View All Result
NikolaNews
  • AI Development
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Machine Learning
    • Neural Networks
    • Learn to Code
  • Data
    • Blockchain
    • Big Data
    • Data Science
  • IT Security
    • Internet Privacy
    • Internet Security
  • Marketing
    • Digital Marketing
    • Marketing Technology
  • Technology Companies
  • Crypto News
No Result
View All Result
NikolaNews
No Result
View All Result
Home Internet Security

BTC-e founder sentenced to five years in prison for laundering ransomware funds

December 8, 2020
in Internet Security
BTC-e founder sentenced to five years in prison for laundering ransomware funds
588
SHARES
3.3k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A French judge has sentenced today the founder of the now-defunct BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange to five years in prison and a fine of €100,000 for laundering funds for cybercriminals, including ransomware gangs, ZDNet France reported today.

Alexander Vinnik, 41, a Russian national, dodged a bigger sentence after French prosecutors failed to prove that the BTC-e founder was directly involved in the creation and the distribution of Locky, a ransomware strain that was active in 2016 and 2017.

You might also like

Microsoft April patch download covers 114 CVEs including new Exchange Server bugs

Cybersecurity: Victims are spotting cyber attacks much more quickly – but there’s a catch

Samsung’s new Galaxy Quantum 2 uses quantum cryptography to secure apps

“Mr. Vinnik, the court acquitted you of the offenses relating to the cyber-attacks linked to Locky, as well as the offenses of extortion and association to criminal activities, but finds you guilty of organized money laundering,” the judge said when reading the sentence.

Vinnik is at the center of a disputed legal battle

Vinnik was trialed in Paris this fall after a long and complicated legal battle. He was initially arrested in July 2017 while vacationing in a summer resort in northern Greece. 

He was taken into custody by Greek police under an international warrant issued by the US for his involvement in running BTC-e, a cryptocurrency exchange that Vinnik founded in 2011, together with fellow Russian national Aleksandr Bilyuchenko.

US authorities said Vinnik operated BTC-e as a front company for a money-laundering operation, knowingly receiving funds from hacks and other forms of cybercrime and helping crooks cash out stolen funds into fiat currency.

But Vinnik’s arrest wasn’t an open and shut case, and a disputed legal battle ensued. As soon as Vinnik’s arrest became public, Russian authorities also filed an extradition request of their own, claiming that Vinnik was also a suspect in an investigation in Russia in relation to a 2013 €9,500 ($11,000) fraud charge.

Details about the case remained murky, but experts said Russian authorities were trying to bring Vinnik back home to prevent the BTC-e founder from spilling secrets to US intelligence.

The extradition battle dragged for more than a year and got even more complicated when French authorities also filed their own request with Athens, asking for Vinnik to be trialed in Paris on 14 charges related to money laundering and hacking.

Vinnik’s lawyers initially won their case in 2018, when an Athens court ruled to extradite Vinnik back home to Russia.

However, as Athens sought to find a middle ground following intense political pressure applied by both Russian (Greece’s main supplier of natural gas) and US (NATO ally) officials, Vinnik was eventually sent to France in the spring of 2020.

French laywers couldn’t prove Locky involvement

But the French trial didn’t pan out as French officials had hoped. ZDNet France reported that French prosecutors managed to prove only one of the 14 charges they brought, with the defendant’s lawyers successfully challenging the evidence brought by Europol for Vinnik’s involvement in cybercrime operations and malware distribution — and specifically his involvement in the Locky ransomware operation.

The BTC-e founder currently remains under arrest, and both the US and Russia have filed new extradition requests with France, still hoping to get Vinnik to face charges in their respective jurisdictions.

While Russian authorities are investigating Vinnik in a case of $11,000 in fraud, US authorities said that Vinnik’s BTC-e platform helped criminals launder more than $4 billion in illegal funds.

Following Vinnik’s arrest, at the Black Hat USA 2017 security conference, a team of security researchers said that before BTC-e went down, the platform had helped convert 95% of all ransomware ransom payments into fiat currency, playing a key role in the burgeoning ransomware ecosystem.

Furthermore, a group of Bitcoin experts calling themselves WizSec also published the results of an investigation that linked Vinnik’s personal BTC-e Bitcoin accounts to the laundering of funds stolen during hacks at the Mt. Gox, Bitcoinica, and Bitfloor cryptocurrency platforms.

In July 2019, the US filed a separate civil lawsuit to try to claw back more than $100 million worth of Bitcoin from BTC-e and Vinnik’s accounts.

In June 2020, New Zealand authorities announced they successfully seized $90 million that they said were linked to Vinnik’s accounts.

Credit: Zdnet

Previous Post

Data Science Central Weekly Digest, 7 Dec 2020

Next Post

Novel signature could improve understanding of depression and its subtypes, and how to treat them -- ScienceDaily

Related Posts

Microsoft April patch download covers 114 CVEs including new Exchange Server bugs
Internet Security

Microsoft April patch download covers 114 CVEs including new Exchange Server bugs

April 14, 2021
Cybersecurity: Victims are spotting cyber attacks much more quickly – but there’s a catch
Internet Security

Cybersecurity: Victims are spotting cyber attacks much more quickly – but there’s a catch

April 14, 2021
Samsung’s new Galaxy Quantum 2 uses quantum cryptography to secure apps
Internet Security

Samsung’s new Galaxy Quantum 2 uses quantum cryptography to secure apps

April 14, 2021
Brave browser disables Google’s FLoC tracking system
Internet Security

Brave browser disables Google’s FLoC tracking system

April 13, 2021
These new vulnerabilities put millions of IoT devices at risk, so patch now
Internet Security

These new vulnerabilities put millions of IoT devices at risk, so patch now

April 13, 2021
Next Post
Applying artificial intelligence to science education — ScienceDaily

Novel signature could improve understanding of depression and its subtypes, and how to treat them -- ScienceDaily

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

Plasticity in Deep Learning: Dynamic Adaptations for AI Self-Driving Cars

Plasticity in Deep Learning: Dynamic Adaptations for AI Self-Driving Cars

January 6, 2019
Microsoft, Google Use Artificial Intelligence to Fight Hackers

Microsoft, Google Use Artificial Intelligence to Fight Hackers

January 6, 2019

Categories

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data
  • Blockchain
  • Crypto News
  • Data Science
  • Digital Marketing
  • Internet Privacy
  • Internet Security
  • Learn to Code
  • Machine Learning
  • Marketing Technology
  • Neural Networks
  • Technology Companies

Don't miss it

Microsoft April patch download covers 114 CVEs including new Exchange Server bugs
Internet Security

Microsoft April patch download covers 114 CVEs including new Exchange Server bugs

April 14, 2021
RCE Exploit Released for Unpatched Chrome, Opera, and Brave Browsers
Internet Privacy

RCE Exploit Released for Unpatched Chrome, Opera, and Brave Browsers

April 14, 2021
DSC Weekly Digest 01 March 2021
Data Science

DSC Weekly Digest 12 April 2021

April 14, 2021
ML Ops and the Promise of Machine Learning at Scale
Machine Learning

ML Ops and the Promise of Machine Learning at Scale

April 14, 2021
How to Enter Your First Zindi Competition | by Davis David
Neural Networks

How to Enter Your First Zindi Competition | by Davis David

April 14, 2021
B2B Content Marketing – Facing Challenges
Marketing Technology

B2B Content Marketing – Facing Challenges

April 14, 2021
NikolaNews

NikolaNews.com is an online News Portal which aims to share news about blockchain, AI, Big Data, and Data Privacy and more!

What’s New Here?

  • Microsoft April patch download covers 114 CVEs including new Exchange Server bugs April 14, 2021
  • RCE Exploit Released for Unpatched Chrome, Opera, and Brave Browsers April 14, 2021
  • DSC Weekly Digest 12 April 2021 April 14, 2021
  • ML Ops and the Promise of Machine Learning at Scale April 14, 2021

Subscribe to get more!

© 2019 NikolaNews.com - Global Tech Updates

No Result
View All Result
  • AI Development
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Machine Learning
    • Neural Networks
    • Learn to Code
  • Data
    • Blockchain
    • Big Data
    • Data Science
  • IT Security
    • Internet Privacy
    • Internet Security
  • Marketing
    • Digital Marketing
    • Marketing Technology
  • Technology Companies
  • Crypto News

© 2019 NikolaNews.com - Global Tech Updates