White House confirms prisoner swap with Russia
Russian crypto businessman and computer programmer Aleksandr Vinnik has been released from a US prison as part of a prisoner exchange with Moscow, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Wednesday.
Vinnik’s lawyer, Frederic Belot, told TASS on Wednesday night that he received “confirmation from the Department of State” that his client had been released. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Leavitt said the prisoner exchange was a “very good deal for the United States of America and for the rest of the world.”
“As you know, we have confirmed that the Russian will be returning home very soon,” the spokeswoman said, calling Vinnik a “nonviolent crypto criminal” who, as part of the exchange, “has forfeited more than $100 million.”
“And in exchange, of course, we got Marc Fogel, who is a middle school teacher who kissed the American soil, kissed the ground last night when he returned to the United States of America,” she added.
The exchange is unlikely to facilitate a breakthrough in relations between Moscow and Washington but could contribute to a gradual rebuilding of trust, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said earlier in the day.
Vinnik, a computer programmer involved in cryptocurrency, was arrested in Greece in 2017. Russia, the US, and France had all sought his extradition on various charges, including hacking, fraud, and money laundering. In 2020, he was extradited to France but ultimately ended up in US custody two years later. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in May 2024. Vinnik has repeatedly expressed his preference to face charges in Russia rather than abroad, citing a desire to remain closer to his family.
Marc Fogel was a teacher at an elite Anglo-American school in Moscow at the time of his arrest, though he had previously worked at the US Embassy in Russia. He lost his diplomatic immunity in May 2021. In August of that year, he was detained at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow after authorities found marijuana and hashish oil in his possession. He was later sentenced to 14 years in prison after Russian officials accused him of attempting to establish a drug trafficking route.
