Mr Bitcoin, US-Russia prisoner swap talks, and hackers’ go-to lawyer
When news of a potential US-Russia prisoner swap broke last week, a familiar name appeared on the list of possible exchange candidates. Alexander Vinnik, known as “Mr Bitcoin,” was arrested while on vacation in Greece in July 2017 on a US warrant for laundering over $4 billion through his crypto exchange, BTC-e. After spending two years in a French prison, he was extradited by Greece to the US in 2022. Vinnik pleaded guilty to money laundering in May 2024.
Although he was initially reported by the RIA news agency as missing from the US federal inmates’ database, when the list of Russians exchanged by the US became public, Vinnik was not included.
“As a matter of pattern, they don’t send back people who [were] not sentenced,” Vinnik’s lawyer, Arkady Bukh, told Kathimerini, confirming that efforts were made to include him in the US-Russia prisoner swap. “So [Vinnik] was not sentenced, while all other cases were actually sentenced. In my understanding, this is one of the reasons why Mr Vinnik wasn’t in that batch of people,” added Bukh.
Moreover, he explained that Vinnik never left the Alameda County Santa Rita Jail in California and that, in fact, he was never in the federal inmate registry database. Indeed, a search of the jail inmate database confirms that Vinnik is still incarcerated there. Vinnik is expected to be sentenced in January 2025.
Bukh, a New York-based lawyer originally from the Soviet Union, is the go-to attorney for Russian cybercriminals extradited to the United States, having represented many famous hackers such as Igor Klopov and Oleg Nikolaenko. He also counseled the family of Roman Seleznev, who was included in the prisoner swap. Seleznev was sentenced to 27 years in prison in 2017 for running a multi-million-dollar online credit card theft ring.
Bukh explained that when it comes to prisoner swap talks, there are no specific rules. “It’s negotiations between spy agencies of the countries,” he emphasized. The effort to include someone in the swap talks begins upon the inmate’s request. Then a frustrating process begins, which Bukh described as a “one-way street,” with lawyers writing letters to US agencies or even to Russian President Vladimir Putin, talking with key people, but hardly ever hearing back.
“Then who will be chosen? Only God knows. This is really unpredictable,” he said, explaining that there was even communication with the lawyers of Americans held in Russia about the potential exchange of their clients.
According to Bukh, even the judges and prosecutors handling the cases didn’t know who was going to be exchanged. When he learned about the deal from his contacts in Russian media just one day before the swap took place, he called the judges’ and prosecutors’ offices to inquire about it. They were as surprised as he was.
“The court thought that we’re doing something behind their back and we’re dealing with the spy agency. And my response was, ‘No, I thought that you know something.’ Basically, nobody knew anything,” said Bukh.
Russian cybercriminals are extradited to the United States from all over the world. According to Bukh, due to the way US authorities operate, the cybercriminals often do not know they are wanted by the US.
“They feel that they’ve been doing everything either right or they did it so well that US government doesn’t know. They never anticipate that they will be arrested in almost all cases,” he stated, adding that their crimes fall under US jurisdiction because they involve American subjects or companies.
Vinnik’s lawyer explained that when it comes to prisoner swap talks, there are no specific rules. ‘It’s negotiations between spy agencies of the countries’
Greece as a refuge
Bukh added that for many years, Greece and Cyprus were considered by Russian cybercriminals to be friendly countries, like Turkey and the UAE, from which the US usually does not seek extraditions.
“For a certain number of years, there [were] not even arrests in Greece,” said Bukh, who, besides Vinnik, had another client who was arrested in Greece, Alexsey Belan.
Belan was arrested in Greece on a US warrant for hacking charges in 2013, but he was able to post bail and leave the country, avoiding extradition. “As [an] attorney, of course, I’m happy for the client, but the US government wasn’t happy,” he noted, underlining however that after the Ukraine war things seem to have changed.
Hackers are a sought-after commodity by both Russia and the US as their skills can be used by government agencies or even private companies. Some of them even have ties to Russian agencies before their arrest. Two out of eight Russians in the prisoner swap were hackers.
“Cybercriminals are always good people to approach for the FSB and then, under threat, to force them to work for or help the Russian government,” explained Bukh, adding that they sometimes even ask them for help in smuggling dual-use goods.
However, the US also utilizes the skills of hackers. Many of Bukh’s Russian hacker clients don’t want to return to Russia, so a large part of his job involves brokering deals with US authorities for reduced sentences and even green cards.
These agreements include the protection of American companies and critical infrastructure, such as dams, from cyberattacks and even the entrapment of other criminals. “Very often [with] clients, we create good projects for the US government to protect American or international infrastructure,” said Bukh.
Vinnik though has repeatedly asked to be extradited back to Russia. Bukh remains optimistic that more US-Russia prisoner swaps will take place in the future. “We’re hoping with the new president next year, we’ll have another opportunity,” he said.
He may very well be proven right.
Shortly after this exchange was completed, a journalist asked US President Joe Biden about the American teacher Marc Fogel, who is serving a 14-year sentence for drug trafficking in Russian prisons. Fogel, like Vinnik, was not included in the exchange.
“A Pennsylvania teacher is still sitting in a Russian prison,” the journalist told Biden.
“We’re not giving up on that,” responded the president.
