US to release Bitcoin fraud suspect in Russia prisoner swap

The US will release a Russian national as part of a prisoner exchange that brought home American schoolteacher Marc Fogel.

Alexander Vinnik was arrested in 2017 on charges related to the laundering of billions of dollars using virtual currency Bitcoin. A US grand jury charged Vinnik on 21 counts related to the laundering of stolen funds.

The White House confirmed to the BBC Vinnik's identity and impending release.

President Donald Trump also indicated earlier that another detainee would be freed in the exchange for Fogel after he was released from a prison in Russia and returned to the US Tuesday night.

Vinnik, the Russian national, operated cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e. He was arrested in Greece at the request of US authorities who believed he was responsible for laundering as much as $4bn (£3.22bn) through the exchange.

He pleaded guilty to the charges in May of last year and was facing as many as 20 years in prison when sentenced.

According to the US Justice Department, BTC-e was used by cyber criminals around the world to transfer, launder and store the proceeds of illegal crimes including hacking incidents, ransomware attacks, identity theft schemes, corrupt public officials and drug sales.

Vinnik allegedly used BTC-e to promote these activities and US authorities said at the time he was responsible for the loss of about $121m.

The justice department said that the firm had no anti-money laundering or KYC - "Know Your Customer" - processes in place, as required by US federal law. It collected no customer data, which investigators said made it attractive to criminals.