THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) – A Greek court ruled Wednesday to extradite Russian cybercrime suspect Alexander Vinnik to the United States, where he is wanted in connection with a $4 billion bitcoin fraud case.
The three-member panel of judges backed the U.S. extradition request for the 37-year-old, who was arrested while on vacation in northern Greece on July 25. Soon after the decision, Vinnik’s lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court on behalf of their client.
Russia is also seeking Vinnik’s extradition on separate fraud charges, but no date has yet been set for that hearing.
While fighting his extradition to the U.S., Vinnik’s lawyers said he would not contest the Russian request.
“We have not seen the formal decision and we’ll wait for it to come out before making comment,” Vinnik’s lawyer Alexandros Lykourezos said.