Binance executive Gambaryan returns home after eight months in detention in Nigeria

The EFCC withdrew the charges against Tigran Gambaryan but said it will continue with the money laundering suit against Binance.

Tigran Gambaryan, a Binance executive held in custody since February by authorities in Nigeria, returned home to his family, according to a statement on Thursday seen by PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr Gambaryan and Binance were charged with laundering over $35 million after he made a trip to the country early in the year. Both he and the cryptocurrency company denied the charges.

The country’s anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) withdrew the charges it brought against him on Wednesday but said it will continue with the money laundering suit against the company.

“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,” R.U. Adaba, the EFCC prosecutor, said on Wednesday.

She added that diplomatic interventions as well as the need to allow Mr Gambaryan to seek medical treatment outside the country informed the decision to drop the charges.

Mr Gambaryan, a US citizen and head of financial crime compliance at Binance, left Kuje prison in Abuja on Wednesday night, according to the document.

Background

Mr Gambaryan and Nadeed Anjarwalla, an executive at Binance holding British and Kenyan nationalities, were arrested in February after their arrival in Nigeria to hold talks with authorities amid a crackdown on Binance.

Earlier, the government blocked the online platforms of Binance and other cryptocurrency operators, noting that trading on such platforms had fuelled speculative activities, manipulation of the forex market and illicit movement of funds in a manner that was pressuring the naira.

The Securities and Exchange Commission in Nigeria had said last September that Binance was “neither registered nor regulated by the Commission and its operations in Nigeria are therefore illegal.”

At the Federal High Court in Abuja in March, the Nigerian Government slammed a four-count charge against Binance and the two executives including for offering services to subscribers on their platforms without registering with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to pay all the appropriate taxes administered by the agency.

The government would later charge Binance for non-payment of value-added tax, company income tax, refusal to file tax returns and aiding customers to evade tax via its platform.

Mr Anjarwalla escaped from custody late in March from an Abuja guest house where he and his colleague had been held after security operatives led him to a mosque for prayers during the Ramadan fast.

In a statement issued afterwards, Zakari Mijinyawa, head of strategic communication at the Office of the National Security Adviser, said preliminary investigations revealed that the escapee absconded from Nigeria using a smuggled passport.

In May, the Abuja court denied Mr Gambaryan bail, ruling that he can face trial on behalf of the cryptocurrency platform. A month after, the FIRS withdrew tax evasion charges against the two men but they continued to face money laundering charges together with Binance.

Mr Gambaryan’s wife, Yuki Gambaryan, raised concerns about his health in a statement in August, adding that her husband had been prevented from seeing his lawyers since 26 July.

“His health is in a shockingly bad condition and getting worse by the day,” she said

“The herniated disc in his back has worsened to the point where it might leave permanent damage and affect his ability to walk.”

The United States ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, in September joined the call for the release of Mr Gambaryan in addition to illustrious US diplomats like Secretary of State Anthony Blinken who had earlier sought his release.

Mr Gambaryan was denied bail for the second time on 11 October as Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja noted that the custodian centre where he was detained was capable of giving him appropriate medical treatment.

The decision to release him on Wednesday came two days earlier than a hearing previously scheduled for Friday 25 October.

“It is a huge relief that this day has finally come. 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,” Mrs Gambaryan was quoted as saying in the Thursday statement seen by PREMIUM TIMES.

“I want to express my deepest gratitude to the US government for their efforts in securing his release. I also want to thank everyone who helped us throughout this ordeal. There were moments I feared this day would never come, but Tigran’s supporters gave me hope and strength. The road ahead for Tigran’s recovery is going to be difficult and I appreciate us being given the time and space to focus on that. Our children cannot wait to see their dad again,” she added.