Paris Court Launches Preliminary Hearings in Russian National Vinnik's Case

PARIS (Sputnik) - A Paris court on Monday started preliminary hearings in the case of Russian citizen Alexander Vinnik, accused of money laundering, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

Vinnik has joined the court proceeding, which was 45 minutes late, with his three lawyers — Frederic Belot, Ariane Zimra and Zoe Konstantopoulou.

Belot has previously said that the case consideration would be taking place on 19-22 October.

Vinnik was detained in Greece in 2017 at the request of the United States, which accused him of laundering $4 billion worth of funds through a cryptocurrency trading platform. France also filed charges against Vinnik, however, his lawyer claimed that it was only a ploy to have him extradited to the United States. Vinnik was extradited to France earlier this year. Russia has submitted a separate extradition request.

Vinnik has denied committing any criminal or administrative offences.