UPDATE - Questioning Of Russian Vinnik By French Investigators In Greece Delayed To Oct 1 - Lawyer

ATHENS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th September, 2018) The questioning of Russian national Alexander Vinnik, who was arrested in Greece on fraud charges, by French investigators was postponed until to October 1, Vinnik's lawyer Timofey Musatov told Sputnik on Monday.

"The questioning of Alexander Vinnik was postponed until October 1. Two French judges, police and operational staff attended [Monday] meeting. [However,] the meeting was postponed due to violation of procedural legislation in terms of the rights of the defendant to get acquainted with the charges and questions in his native language," Musatov said.

Vinnik's lawyer in Greece Ilias Spirliadis told Sputnik that the French investigation had submitted its questions for Vinnik, but since they were not translated into Russian, the questioning was pushed forward.

According to a list of questions seen by Sputnik, French investigators already have more than a hundred questions to Vinnik, including where he spent vacations in the last five years, whether he withdrew cash from ATMs, what bank cards he uses, how the electronic cryptocurrency exchange worked and what was his role in it, whether he knew some people, phone numbers and e-mails, whether he was in Tenerife, whether he bought caviar for 41,000 rubles ($600) on a certain date, and some others.

He also noted that Russian investigation also had sent it questions to Vinnik, noting that Russian investigators would soon visit Greece to question his defendant.

"Russian judges will come to Greece, and in their presence Greek investigators will ask questions that have been transferred. Both French and Russian judges have no right to participate in the questioning," the lawyer explained.

He did not specify the date of the questioning.

Vinnik was detained in Greece in July 2017 at the request of the US authorities on various charges, including laundering $4 billion through bitcoin cryptocurrency exchange BTC-E, which was allegedly headed by Vinnik. The exchange has said that the Russian national had never been engaged in its activities. The suspect himself has denied the US accusations.

In Russia, Vinnik is wanted for separate fraud charges, but he has denied some of them.

France put the Russian national on the wanted list in June claiming Vinnik was complicit in extortion and money laundering on its territory.

All the three countries have been seeking Vinnik's extradition.