The accused Russian laundering of money is released in exchange for Marc Fogel

Cnn
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The accused Russian laundering of money Alexander Vinnik is released from US detention in exchange for Marc Fogel, a Trump management source told CNN on Wednesday.

Vinnik is accused of running a cryptocurrency exchange on several trillion dollars that allegedly did business with drug dealers and identity thiefs. Vinnik was arrested in 2017 in Greece and then extradited to France, where he was sentenced to five years in prison in 2020 for money laundering. He was extradited from France to the United States in 2022.

According to the source, Vinnik must perish money seized by the US government as part of the stock exchange.

The release of Fogel in exchange for Vinnik is coming as President Donald Trump has renewed his focus on trying to quickly end the war in Ukraine. On Tuesday, he suggested that the release of Fogel be a “good faith” movement of the Russians. Wednesday, Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin about war and said negotiations to quit it will begin “immediately.”

Fogel’s release was followed by the release of another American, this time from Belarus, Wednesday. Trump had teased the release of another American Tuesday.

The American, which was not named a privacy request was part of a group of three political prisoners released Wednesday. The other two included Andrey Kuznechyk, who worked for the US-supported radio-free Europe/Radio Liberty and Alena Maushuk, according to the administration.

The American was detained in September 2024 and is the second American released from Belarus under the Trump administration. Anastassia Nuhfer was detained in December 2024 and was released in January.

“This was a special operation where we just crossed into the Belarusian border went into Minsk to meet with Belarusian colleagues who brought these three prisoners to us. They handed them over to our custody. They were handed over to us and we brought them back through Lithuania, ”Chris Smith, a vice -generator of European affairs of European affairs, told the Belarus Portfolio, to CNNS Dana Bash on interior policy.

Smith claimed that this “was a one -sided gesture of the Lukashenko authorities,” and said they are seeking to improve the tape with the United States.

The Belarusian strong man Alexander Lukashenko, a Putin -allized, “got nothing for this exchange,” he said.

In the event of the Fogel-Vinnik exchange, Vinnik’s lawyers had the lobby for his release as part of the prisoner exchange in the past, and the Biden administration had floated its name as part of an effort to free Americans like Paul Whelan. Wednesday, a lawyer for Vinnik Lykke expressed his release and said, “It is a real relief for my client and his family.”

“I have met many people in the US to push that he was included in the next exchange/swap. I have met Marc Fogel’s lawyers who were very helpful, ”Frédéric Bélot said in a statement to CNN.

As with many prisoners, not all of the US government agreed to release Vinnik.

“Releasing cyber criminals is likely to further the office involved in ransomware and related transnational crimes,” a US law enforcement officer told CNN. Cryptocurrency exchange tied to Vinnik “treated over $ 9 billion value of transactions,” the official said. “Vinnik would be the latest Russian high -level cyber crimin , involving Americans Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan.

New York Times first reported that Vinnik was released.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice refused to comment when asked about Vinnik’s status in the United States.

Trump and members of his administration have been very critical of prisoners in the past. Both Washington and Moscow have revealed few details about the deal that led to Fogel’s release on Tuesday.

A statement from the White House that announced his return after more than three years in Russian detention referred only to an “exchange.” Trump and top national security officials refused to offer details when they were repeatedly pressed on the case on Tuesday night.

On Wednesday, the Kremlin said a Russian citizen was released as part of an exchange involving Fogel and will soon return to Russia but would not reveal the person’s identity.

Discussions between Moscow and Washington had risen in recent days, spokesman Dmitry Peskov added, led to the release of Fogel and “one of the citizens of the Russian Federation” who are currently being detained in the United States. ”

Vinnik is one of several accused Russian cyber criminals who have been handed over to the United States in recent years and then flowed in prisoner swap discussions with the Kremlin. In Vinnik’s case and others, Russian diplomats have relentlessly fought for the detained extradition to the United States. When these efforts failed, Russian embassies and consulates in the United States have been aware of the alleged cyber criminal trials because they are potential negotiating chips.

Wednesday, the American Middle East – Release Steve Witkoff – who was part of the discussions – told CNN that he was contacted and told “there could be an opportunity to get Mark Fogel” out of Russia “several days ago.”

“People approached us, in this case, and said there could be an opportunity to get Mark Fogel out,” Witkoff added. Then he spoke with Trump, national security adviser Mike Waltz, chief of staff at White House Susie Wiles and CIA director John Ratcliffe.

“The president instructed me to go over there and end it if we could,” Witkoff said.

He also pointed to the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as “instrumental” towards Fogel’s release.

“He was encouraging and pushing and looking for the right result, and it was useful. It really was, ”Witkoff said.

Fogel arrived at the White House late Tuesday killed in an American flag and was greeted by Trump who said it was “an honor to have played a small role” in his release.

A senior official in the White House had told CNN that Fogel’s release would not play out as a direct one-for-one exchange with a Russian held in the United States. “I think you will see the president consider if there are some non-violent people … But you will not see a one-for-one thing that happens at the same time,” said Adam Boehler, Trump’s special envoy to hostages, Tuesday.

The trade in the release of Fogel, who was appointed as unlawfully detained by the US Department of State, was negotiated by Trump, Witkoff, “and the president’s advisers,” according to a statement from Waltz.

In an extraordinary move, Witkoff had personally gone to Russia to bring back Fogel indicated Waltz’s statement. There has been no known us at a high level of Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.

When he spoke with Boehler, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio CNN said that while Fogel’s release is not linked to ending Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, he thinks it’s a “good sign” that Russia was willing to cooperate. When he talked about the war, he said, “We won’t just see that end. We will see that end in a way that is sustainable, ”he said.

Fogel is traveling to San Antonio, Texas to participate in the US government’s adjustment program on Wednesday, a Fogel lawyer told CNN, to help them acclimatize after being imprisoned abroad.

Incorrect prisoners returning to the United States are given the opportunity to participate in PISA, which is responsible for support activities after insulation. A former official in the senior department described the program as useful for previously imprisoned “to tell (their) story.”

Everything “will be new” and “surreal” for Fogel when he adapts to life in the United States, according to Paul Whelan, an American wrongly held in Russia for more than five years until he was released in a prisoner exchange last year.

“He wakes up in the first world after spending three and a half in the Third World. Everything will be new to him. Everything well known will be just a surreal experience, ”he told CNN on Wednesday.

Ex-Marine also offered a rare insight into the small group of Americans previously held by governments and groups abroad who “keep in touch” to support each other.

“If someone needs to chat about what they are going through, they may need some kind of help. We meet and do it, ”Whelan said. “It’s an exclusive club, it’s like the club for presidents.”