Nigeria Drops Charges, Releases Detained Binance Exec

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 on the ground of 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.

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.”

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.

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 crypto-related “laziness” combined with Biden’s “soft” international policy was to blame for the slow action on this case.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.