"Only before I landed in Moscow they took the handcuffs off me."
The conditions are harsh in all American prisons - 20-40 people live in a barracks, rise at 5 or 6 am, work in the morning and dinner at 4 pm, Alexander Vinnik told Izvestia. The Russian was imprisoned for 2.5 years in the United States, and before that - five more in France and Greece on charges of cryptocurrency fraud and money laundering. The investigation had no evidence, Vinnik says, yet he faced a life sentence in the States. The Russian returned to Moscow as part of a prisoner exchange last week. About American justice, first feelings after returning to Russia and plans for the future - in an exclusive interview with Alexander Vinnik "Izvestia".
"During the detention I was told: 'The US wants you'"
- You were detained in 2017 on the beach in Greece. How did it happen?
- I was arrested on the beach, then taken to a room to conduct a search, my spouse and children were kept on the beach at this time, not allowing me to go to the toilet or eat. They seized all the equipment: a tablet with cartoons, a camera with family photos, and a cell phone from me and my wife.
Next, I was taken to the police station in Thessaloniki. During the detention I was told only, "The US wants you." At the police station they showed me some incomprehensible paper in English. The next day at the police station, the prosecutor enlightened me a bit about the fact that there were some four charges against me in America. He said they were related to money laundering. The documents came two months later, there was no evidentiary basis.
Alexander Vinnik was arrested in 2017 in Greece, where he was on vacation with his family. The arrest took place at the request of the United States. Washington accused him of carrying out cryptocurrency fraud, money laundering, participation in drug trafficking and other crimes. In 2020, Vinnik was extradited to France. Paris sentenced him to five years in prison on suspicion of extortion, data theft and money laundering through the exchange. In 2022, Vinnik was extradited to the United States, where he faced a life sentence. In September 2022, Vinnik's lawyer Frederic Belo asked Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to handle the Russian's exchange.
- You said they provided screenshots from your laptop. What were these screenshots?
- The screenshots were already in the French case. It wasn't my laptop, as they claim. There were five or six screenshots of the stock exchange page, a screenshot of the bank statements, a screenshot of the desktop, a screenshot of the shopping cart.
- So it didn't show any transfers?
- No. They did not have any evidence of my involvement, of my negotiations with someone about any transfers.
- Did they put any pressure on you?
- Not directly - no one physically tortured me. But morally - of course. In Greece, all the police officers said, "Oh, you're about to be taken away by the Americans, they're so strong, so you'd better go voluntarily, why should you resist."
- In 2018, you were criminally prosecuted in Russia. Were you aware of this?
- I was accused of fraud, all the details I don't know.
- Then you had hope that you would be returned to Russia? But they took you first to France and then to the USA - and you were sent there again from Greece.
- According to the Greek constitution and their laws, I should have been extradited to Russia, but that didn't happen.
- What happened after you were returned from France to Greece?
- We landed, approached another plane. I didn't know what that meant at the time. I thought they were taking me to a Greek prison. They drove an armored car up the ramp of the French plane. Five special forces dragged me into the car, drove around the French plane and pushed me to the American plane, where two FBI agents took me under their arms and took me aboard.
- You were sent on a private plane to the United States ?
- Yes. Maybe it was a military flight, I don't know. I was escorted by five FBI agents.
- Did they say anything to you on board? Did they give you any documents, question you?
- They gave me a copy of the Miranda Rule (a legal requirement in the U.S. that a detainee must be informed of his rights and a law enforcement officer must receive an affirmative answer to the question of whether he understands what was said. - Ed.) in Russian. They asked, "Are you going to talk?". I said: "I will not talk about the case, but I can talk to you like this to brighten up the time." We talked, I tried to find out how they keep in American prisons, how everything will happen, I taught them how to play "fool". That's how the time passed.
- Upon landing, were you immediately transported to the prison?
- No, it was night and I waited at the courthouse for the morning and after the initial hearing I was brought to the prison.
I waited two nights in the lockup first. For two nights I slept on a concrete bench surrounded by a bunch of other prisoners, for the next two weeks I was placed in a cell for two, and after that - in a common barrack for 20-40 people. During all this time I changed barracks three times, that is, I was constantly transferred somewhere else.
"The rules in any prison in the United States are harsh."
- Santa Rita Prison is known for its harsh conditions. What was your daily routine in prison?
- The routine in any prison in the U.S. is harsh. Wake up usually at 5 a.m., 6 a.m. on weekends. At 9:00 a.m. I went to work in the laundry, worked until 1:00 p.m., then a short break. At 15:30-16:00 - dinner and then free time. I read, did sports.
- What have you been reading?
- I finally reread "War and Peace", all Dostoevsky, most of our classical writers, Chekhov, various fiction, spiritual literature very much.
- What gave you strength in prison?
- Firstly, faith gives strength, and secondly, dreams and thoughts about the Motherland. Talking with relatives, realizing that you are not forgotten, that they are fighting for you. It helps a lot.
- Was there any special treatment because you are Russian?
- There wasn't as much hype around me in the U.S. as there was in Greece. Very few people knew about my case, but they all knew that I was Russian and naturally respected me for that.
- Did you teach them Russian words?
- Some bad ones. They were only interested in the bad words.
"I didn't make a deal with the investigation, I pleaded guilty."
- How many charges were brought against you in total?
- One court decided to send me to America, a second court decided to send me to Russia. And the third one decided to send me to France, because from France came another extradition request in 2018. There were 20 charges against me, and I was acquitted on 19 of them. There were articles for money laundering as part of an organized group, unlawful access to information, alteration of information, extortion. And this criminal group consisted only of me - me alone, there was no one else.
- That is a completely made-up accusation on the part of France?
- They couldn't even say what damage had been done.
- And the U.S. reported what damage was done?
- There was no damage there. They accused me of laundering $4 billion or $9 billion, but there was no damage and there were no victims.
- By the way, speaking of victims: the Japanese stock exchange was supposed to be an injured party, but it was not listed as such in the documents....
- There was a mention that it was hacked, some part of it was laundered, but it was not presented as an injured party.
- What else surprised you about the case? I mean, you read the entire indictment.
- It was about 30 terabytes of information. Naturally, I could not process and pass through so much. There's not enough time to study all those pages. It's millions, if not billions of pages. Among them are screenshots, or printouts of various system logs, servers from some computers, so there was a lot of information that you can't make sense of - I mean, paper. There were no witness statements.
- Who did you turn to for help?
- I wrote to Vladimir Putin, Sergey Lavrov, Vyacheslav Volodin. I didn't write to foreign politicians. My mom, I know, wrote. When I talked to her, we were bugged. I mentioned all this so that they (Biden, Macron, Trump) would take care of their internal affairs and leave us alone.
- Were you facing imprisonment for 55 years?
- No, I was facing life imprisonment. 55 years is the maximum the article provides, but in America the system works differently. Your case is made up of a points system. Based on that, your level is determined. According to that level, you get more or less. I was only facing life in prison.
- When did you plea bargain?
- I did not make a deal with the investigation, I pleaded guilty when I already had a lawyer Arkady Bukh. For the first year I had a free lawyer provided by the United States. He didn't help me much, and there was no clear strategy of what to do, besides there was a language barrier. I pleaded guilty in May 2024 at the San Francisco courthouse in the presence of the judge, attorney and prosecutor.
"It was amazing that the Americans brought a Russian prisoner home."
- Tell us about your return home.
- On Monday after dinner, when we had all cleaned up, a guard comes up to me and says, "Pack up, you're leaving." I packed, then they came to pick me up, we got into a regular car. They said, "Package received." Three cars took me to San Francisco, to the courthouse, and they said they would wait for me tomorrow.
The next day at 3:00 p.m. there was to be a hearing. I was not called into the courtroom. Then some time later they told me that my case was closed.
Migration officers made some kind of certificate that I did not have a visa and, accordingly, I could be deported. When they loaded me on the plane, I was not told where we were going or why. The first refueling was at a military base.
Then we flew across the Atlantic. On landing I was told we were landing in Poland, but it turned out to be an airport in the Netherlands. They said the next stop was Moscow. It was surprising to me that the Americans brought a Russian prisoner home. If it was an exchange, it was carried out in the UAE, in Turkey, on the territory of a state friendly to them.
When we crossed the skies of Belarus, they turned off the TVs, packed all their electronic equipment in a special bag, put on caps and masks, closed the curtains when we landed.
They opened the door, handed out my stuff and told me to go. The whole time I was in leg irons, handcuffed. Only before we landed in Moscow did they take them off.
- What do you plan to do now? Some Russians who were previously released from American prisons have gone into politics.
- No, I'm not a political person. I plan to first restore my health, then get on with my business, taking into account my previous mistakes.
- Have you already received offers from some companies?
- Yes, I have. Among other things, I was offered to become a director of a financial company.
- The children didn't know until the last minute that you were coming back. It was a surprise and a birthday present for them. Can you tell me how the meeting went?
- I knew my oldest son had grown up. My youngest had grown up too, but my oldest had grown up a lot. I expected to look down on him, and when he opened the door for me, I started looking down. And it turns out he's already upstairs at my level. The uncle opens it for me, "Oh, Daddy."
- Who would you like to thank for your comeback?
- My wife started fighting from the first minutes of the arrest. Then my mom got involved - family is first and foremost. Naturally, without the president nothing would have been possible, so I would like to thank Vladimir Putin. And also Sergei Lavrov, our special services, diplomats and embassy staff - everyone who took part in this case.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
