Alexander Vinnik is a Russian hacker and a computer expert, who willingly works for the BTC-e, a Russian cryptocurrency exchange, who allegedly uses digital currency to launder money for cybercriminals. Recently, he is in trending news highlights for his money laundering and has been sentenced to five-year imprisonment in France.
Early Life
Alexander Vinnik was born in the year 1979 in Kurgan, Kurgan Oblast, and holds Russian Citizenship. The details regarding his parents’ identity are kept aloof as he is a computer expert and a hacker, and revealing his personal details could cause harm to his family. So, no traits regarding his past life have been mentioned anywhere in the source.
Talking about educational information, Vinnik must be a brilliant student as he has a sharp mind, which could handle computers. He might be graduated with a degree related to computers and might have attended hacking classes, as his interest shows the same.
Alexander Vinnik Career
Alexander was a born hacker and was always into computers, gaming, and related techniques and systems. Since 2011, he has been linked with BTC-e, a cryptocurrency exchange, and provided his services as a director and a supervisor for the operations and the finances till 2017, after he alleged and the victim pressed charges on him for his malfunctioning. As per the reports of Elliptic, which is a London-based cryptocurrency analysis firm, it is known that BTC-e has been used by Fancy Bear during 2015-16 ‘Democratic National Committee Cyber-attacks.’ Several charges against the former operator of BTC-e were dropped on 28th June 2020, but the sentence remains the same.
Controversies
In 2016, while enjoying the holidays with his family in Greece, Kim Nilsson, a Swedish software engineer arrested him and put certain charges. Kim stated that he had been investigating Mt. Gox’s missing bitcoins and was tracking and tracing the vanishing, which was found from the wallet owned by Vinnik. He was arrested by the US for helping criminals circumvent KYC/AML policies for misusing the information and trading the money illegally with the owner’s consent. This accusation caused the Tokyo-based exchange, to lose a number of customers and millions of dollars worth of its customer’s bitcoins.
In 2019, it was announced by the office of Nobuaki Kobayashi, who is a trustee, recovering funds on behalf of Mt. Gox’s creditors that they have been in contact with the US Department of Justice and stated that the cops are seeking all the information which can be an evidence to prove that Vinnik is guilty. While Alexander claims that he is non-guilty and further added that he is just an employee of the exchange and is accused of false charges by Mt. Gox. He stated that he lacks criminal activity knowledge and is a technician who did not orchestrate the attacks. He then applied for extradition, which was blocked due to Russia’s response with criticism as they called it ‘unjust’ and added that it violated international law.
Further Allegations
Immediately, Vinnik wrote an apology, which stated his admission of guilt to Russian authorities. In 2018, Greek authorities uncovered the plot to murder Vinnik in prison. Later France filed an extradition request and accused Vinnik to launder 133 million euros using bitcoin. In 2020, he was interrogated by the French professional investigators, after he was successfully extradited from Greece to France. Where they found out that he was innocent and is likely to be alleged for his nationality and his involvement in cryptocurrency. Based on the evidence collected by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bloomberg reported that he might be in contact with Russian hackers.
It came out that Vinnik himself is not suspected of directly influencing the elections, but he may have been a source of the ray to Fancy Bear, which is a Russian hacking unit linked with the attacks and laundering. On 23rd October 2020, the French prosecutors sentenced Alexander to 10-year imprisonment and with 750,000 euro as compensation as the investigators found out a connection between Vinnik and Locky, cryptocurrency ransomware, which encrypts the victim’s personal data and demands bitcoin in exchange for opening access to the victim’s computer illegally. However, Alexander denied any contact with Locky.
Alexander Vinnik Biography |
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| Real Name | Alexander Vinnik |
| Birth Date | 1979 |
| Age (as of 2021) | 42 Years |
| Birth Place | Kurgan, Russia |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Profession | Computer Expert |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Sun sign | Not Known |
Physical Statistics |
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| Height | in feet inches – 5’ 9” – in Centimeters – 175 cm |
| Weight | in Kilograms – 65 kg – in Pounds – 143 lbs |
| Hair Color | Dark Brown |
| Eye Color | Brown |
| Body Type | Slim |
Family |
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| Father | Not Known |
| Mother | Not Known |
| Sister | Not Known |
| Brother | Not Known |
Qualification/Education |
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| School | Not Known |
| College | Not Known |
Relationship Status |
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| Marital Status | Married |
| Affair | No |
| Is he a Gay? | No |
| Wife | Not Known |
| Children | One |
Personal Life
The hacker, Vinnik is pretty private for sharing his personal details with the media. No information about his earlier engagements or past relationships is recorded on the track. Nor it is known if he is currently involved or linked with someone or is married.
Alexander Vinnik Net Worth
Serving his duties to BTC-e and directing and supervising finances, he might be earning a hefty income from it. As he is alleged and been involved in various controversies lately, his income might be cut short due to court and allegation fees. Currently, he seems to suffer a loss due to heavy fines and as he is sentenced to 5-year jail, he might have to lose a decent amount of money for bail.
Trivia
- Alexander is also known by his nickname Sasha WME.
- He was accused and charged with extortion, aggravated money laundering, conspiracy, and harming automatic data-processing systems.
- In 2018, Alexander went on to protest for his detainment in Greece and started a hunger strike.
- On 7th December 2020, Vinnik was charged and received a statement for 5-year imprisonment by the court in France for his misconduct and creating ‘Locky’ malware.
- He was alleged for seizing $90 million from WME Capital Management, a company registered with his name in New Zealand in 2020.