Binance exec Tigran Gambaryan headed home after 8-month detention in Nigeria

Over seven months later, Nigeria has finally dropped the charges against Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan. 

Gambaryan, per a press release, left Nigeria’s Kuje prison on Wednesday night and is on his way back to his family in the United States.

The Nigerian government charged Gambaryan alongside his employer with money laundering violations, though the case was primarily focused on Binance. The crypto exchange previously denied the charges. 

Read more: Binance’s woes in Nigeria continue to mount

“The government has reviewed the case and, taken into consideration that the second defendant (Mr. Gambaryan) is an employee of the first defendant (Binance Holdings Limited), whose status in the matter has more impact than the second defendant’s, and also taking into consideration some critical international and diplomatic reasons, the state seeks to discontinue the case against the second defendant,” lawyers for Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission told a court earlier this week.

Just a few months before, the government also dropped tax evasion charges it had also filed against both Gambaryan and Binance. 

“​​The past eight months have been a living nightmare. I wish it hadn’t taken this long for his release, or that his health had not declined so much, but we can now focus on healing as a family,” Yuki Gambaryan, Tigran’s wife, said in a statement.

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The same day that the government dropped the charges against Gambaryan, the US announced a “bilateral liaison” with Nigeria focused on crypto and illicit finance. 

“The United States reaffirms our commitment to a close partnership with Nigeria, and the US Department of Justice is continuing its coordination with the Government of Nigeria to build its capacity to pursue cybercrime investigations and prosecutions,” the government’s press release said.

Bloomberg reported that the money laundering case was dismissed due to Gambaryan’s health issues. Not even two weeks ago, the court denied his bail despite his ongoing medical problems. 

Gambaryan’s health has suffered during his detention in Nigeria, where he’s been held in Kuje prison since the spring. He suffers from a herniated disk, and previously battled pneumonia. 

Binance told Blockworks — and Nigeria — that Gambaryan wasn’t a “decision maker” at the company, meaning he was not in control of any actions taken by the company itself numerous times since he was detained back in February. Yuki Gambaryan, reiterated the statement from Binance.

Gambaryan’s detention not only grabbed the attention of Binance CEO Richard Teng, who published a blog on the ongoing detention.

“It is useful to point out that Nigeria has never been a big market for Binance. The government has said that we made $26 [billion] in revenue from Nigeria in 2023. That is not the case. The $26 [billion] figure is the total transaction volume from 2023,” Gambaryan wrote in August.

Politicians from the US government visited Gambaryan earlier this year, also calling on Nigeria to release the executive. Rep. French Hill called the situation “outrageous” in September after videos surfaced of a visibly distressed Gambaryan entering the Nigerian courtroom. 

Prior to his time at Binance, Gambaryan was a “legendary” IRS agent who helmed multiple investigations into people tied to the Silk Road. 

Wired’s Andy Greenberg — who wrote the book “Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency,” with Gambaryan as the protagonist — called the former IRS agent “kind of a legendary figure in the crypto crime investigation world” in a podcast.

Updated Oct. 24, 2024 at 11:05 am ET: Added tweet from Binance.

Updated Oct. 24, 2024 at 10:44 am ET: Added statement from Nigerian government and modified headline to reflect update regarding Binance exec Tigran Gambaryan.

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