As of the time I'm writing this post, BTC-e is not down, neither have I found sources connecting this arrest or the person arrested to BTC-e. That being said, if all this is true, too bad: we've seen similar in the community and we all know what happened.
Just saw this on another thread.
no link to where he got it though. update on the source -
http://www.dailythess.gr/h-megali-klopi-bitcoins-dark-web-ke-chlidati-zoi-tou-rosou-pou-entopise-fbi-sti-chalkidiki/The Big Bit Theft, the Dark Web and the Sleazy Life of the Russian Who Detected the FBI in Halkidiki
Vassilis Kyriacoulis
38-year-old Russian Alexander Vinnik enjoyed his vacation with his partner in one of the most expensive hotels in Ouranoupoli in Halkidiki. He had not realized the slightest of the FBI steps he had been watching for months, informing the Greek prosecution authorities of his action. Yesterday after a surprise operation he was arrested and today he was handcuffed to the prosecutor of the Thessaloniki Court of Appeals in order to start the proceedings for his extradition to the United States.
The 38-year-old is characterized by the US authorities as one of the leading members of an organization that was running large amounts of money through an online Bitcoin digital exchange platform that helped to "launder" more than $ 4 billion from 2011 to date! This is the BTC-e platform, which after the 38-year-old is arrested as the US prosecution investigation is in full swing.
In the traces of the massive attack on Mt. Gox
Characteristically, according to the documents sent to the Greek authorities on the bitcoins exchange platform behind which the 38-year-old Russian is hiding, a large part of the "stolen" removed from Mt. Gox , which by the end of 2014 managed 70% of the volume of bitocoin trades worldwide, but after the attack it received declared bankrupt.
The trial of MT's CEO recently kicked off in Tokyo. Gox Mark Karpelès , who accused the hackers of the 850,000 bitcoin, worth about $ 500 million, lost in 2014. According to documents that reached 306,853 bitcoins stolen after the attack on Mt. Gox entered the BTC-e purses. According to the same documents another part of the stolen from the attack on Mt. Gox arrived at a San Francisco exchange office.
Alexander Vinnik on his admission to the courts of Thessaloniki
"One of the biggest" money laundering "on the Internet
As stated in the documents sent by the US Department of Justice, BTC-e is "one of the largest entities in the field of electronic money laundering and money laundering in the world". According to the US authorities, "illegal proceeds come from a number of high-level piracy, ransom repayment systems, drug trafficking and tax systems." As the US authorities have estimated on this platform since 2011, 12.5 million bitcoins have been filed and blamed, and blame the 38-year-old Russian and his colleagues for spilling at least $ 4 billion!
Corrupt agents
Through the platform behind which the Russians are accused of allegedly scamming money, two corrupt US federal agents Carl Force and Shaun Bridges , who were accused of robbing millions of dollars worth of Silk Road , This site was one of the largest black drug markets in the so-called "dark internet".
The trails at Abu Dhabi's luxury hotel
The FBI had closely watched 38-year-old Russian at least over a year ago, as its papers refer to May 2016 as a luxury hotel in Abu Dhabi, as it traced its digital footprints through a WebMoney account.
He denies the accusations
Today, in front of the prosecutor in Thessaloniki, 38-year-old Russian denies any interference with the accusations attributed to him by the US authorities, and he said he was amazed at his arrest. The Appeals Council is expected to meet in the coming time, which is required to give its opinion on the request for extradition to the United States, and then the final decision will be taken by the Minister for Justice. The maximum period of detention by the Greek authorities may not exceed two months.
