A Nigerian court has dropped charges and authorized the release of Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan, who had been detained in the country since February.
The case against the Binance executive and former IRS agent, who was the head of financial crime compliance at the crypto exchange, has been discontinued due to his poor health, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Binance and Gambaryan’s representative did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request to confirm these reports.
Gambaryan was detained in February when he flew to Nigeria to negotiate with authorities regarding the ban of a number of crypto trading sites. During this he was required to hand over his passport and taken into custody.
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A Nigerian parliamentary committee is calling for the arrest of Binance’s executives for allegedly enabling a slew of financial crimes on their platform. Per a report from Politics Nigeria, the House Committee on Financial Crimes has announced plans to recommend that Congress invoke the power to subpoena the crypto exchange’s executives after they failed to appear before the committee voluntarily. The company’s leadership was originally called to Congress in response to allegations from the Empo...
This happened alongside Binance's regional manager for Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who escaped custody and fled the country within a month. Meanwhile, Gambaryan remained held in Nigeria as his health started to decline.
Over his eight months of detention, the former IRS agent suffered plights with malaria, a chest infection, and a herniated disc that limited his movement. According to his family and U.S. officials, these health concerns were not treated properly which has only led to them worsening.
In July, U.S. congressman Rep. French Hill (R-AR) visited Gambaryan in Nigerian prison claiming that his health was “deteriorating” in custody. A month later, a family spokesperson told Decrypt that his health had gotten significantly worse calling it “shockingly bad.” Throughout this, Nigerian officials were adamant that Gambaryan’s health was “fine.”
Detained Binance Executive Escapes Custody in Nigeria: Report
One of two Binance executives detained in Nigeria has escaped custody, according to local media reports. Nigerian publication Premium Times reported that Binance's regional manager for Africa Nadeem Anjarwalla had fled the guest house in Abuja where he and the exchange's Head of Financial Crime Compliance Tigran Gambaryan were being detained. Anjarwalla reportedly escaped after guards took him to a nearby mosque for Ramadan prayers. Anjarwalla, who holds dual British and Kenyan citizenship, is b...
The Binance executive’s team believe that his herniated disc requires specialized, high-risk surgery that he is not receiving in Nigeria. As a result of the lack of treatment, he required help to walk and collapsed during a court hearing as he could not stand without aid.
Two weeks ago, Gambaryan was denied bail on “medical grounds” despite his family claiming he met the requirements. This led to his trial being postponed for a week due to his poor health preventing him from attending a scheduled hearing. Gambaryan’s next court hearing was set for Friday, October 25 but the charges have now been dropped and this will not be required.
Congress to Weigh Call for ‘Immediate Release’ of Jailed Binance Exec
The U.S. Congress Foreign Affairs Committee agreed to a resolution Tuesday regarding Tigran Gambaryan’s imprisonment in Nigeria. Now the resolution will go to the House of Representatives. The official document urges the government of Nigeria to “immediately release” the Binance executive, and for the U.S. government to formally declare him a “citizen wrongfully detained by a foreign government.” Gambaryan was taken into custody in February by Nigerian authorities. Since then, his family says th...
The former IRS agent had been held in Nigeria for eight months, with U.S. government officials fighting for his release. One resolution urged the government to classify him as a “unlawfully or wrongfully detained,” under the same act that resulted in the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner from Russia.
Congressman Rich McCormick, Gambaryan’s local representative for Georgia, told Decrypt that legislative “laziness” on crypto issues combined with Biden’s “soft” international policy was to blame for the slow action on this case.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
