Nigeria Dismisses Charges Against Tigran Gambaryan, Imprisoned Binance Executive and Ex-IRS Agent

After eight months, one of the leading crypto-crime detectives in the US is at last returning home.

FOR EIGHT MONTHS, the criminal investigator who was the first to develop cryptocurrency tracing for law enforcement purposes has, in a strange turn of events, been imprisoned in Nigeria on accusations of money laundering and tax evasion. At last, he is returning home.

On Wednesday in Abuja, a court decided that criminal charges against Tigran Gambaryan, a Binance executive who formerly worked as an IRS criminal investigator for ten years, will be dismissed for medical reasons as pressure from the US government has increased to ensure Gambaryan’s release.

Gambaryan was arrested in February and subsequently imprisoned after Nigerian officials invited him to the country to address a conflict between the Nigerian government and Binance regarding its past involvement in money laundering and the exchange’s suspected contribution to the depreciation of the Nigerian national currency. He has since been detained in the Kuje prison of the country, where, as per his family and lawyers, he has experienced severe pain from a herniated disc in his back that necessitates urgent surgery.

Although the Nigerian court chose to dismiss the charges against Gambaryan, as first reported by Bloomberg News, Gambaryan remains in Nigeria and was sent back to prison after the verdict, according to Patrick Hillman, a former executive at Binance and Gambaryan’s associate who has participated in the campaign for his release. “We’re all somewhat anticipating to learn that he’s on a flight, in the air, and en route home,” Hillman states. “Until we receive confirmation of that, we’re all just nervously holding our shirt collars and hoping there are no further issues.”

A representative for Gambaryan’s family chose not to provide any comments, and Binance did not quickly reply to a request for a statement. As per Reuters, the nation’s legal proceedings against Binance will persist, even with Gambaryan’s release.

Global pressure on Nigeria to free Gambaryan has increasingly intensified, as his health has noticeably deteriorated while incarcerated. In July, he appeared at a court hearing using a wheelchair. In September, a video showed him entering the court with a single crutch, limping and unsuccessfully asking a Nigerian security guard for assistance.

In the meantime, 16 congressional members signed a letter addressed to the White House urging that Gambaryan’s case be regarded as a hostage situation. A measure put forward in the House Foreign Affairs Committee urged the US to advocate for his freedom. Recently, a coalition of state attorneys general urged the White House to exert the needed pressure to release Gambaryan.

Gambaryan had worked as a compliance and investigations executive for Binance since 2021, but he dedicated the previous ten years to being one of the most prominent and recognized criminal investigators in the federal government of the US. During his time with IRS Criminal Investigators, he uncovered two corrupt federal agents linked to the Silk Road dark-web drug trade; assisted in locating 650,000 bitcoins that had been stolen from the early crypto exchange Mt. Gox collaborated with the crypto tracing company Chainalysis to create a covert technique that identified the server supporting the AlphaBay dark web marketplace; played a significant role in dismantling the crypto-financed Welcome to Video child exploitation video network; and confiscated 69,370 bitcoins pilfered from the Silk Road, marking the largest criminal seizure of funds ever received by the US Treasury.

Gambaryan’s backers have consistently claimed that his history of service has justified the US government’s assistance in securing his freedom. Currently, while they anticipate confirmation that he has indeed been released from jail, it seems that their endeavors might have finally made an impact. Hillman states, “This is the most optimistic we’ve felt in the past year.” “Nobody is prepared to uncork the champagne bottles just yet.” However, it’s a nice day.