After pleading for medical attention for months, Binance employee and former U.S. Special Agent Tigran Gambaryan has finally been granted freedom by the Nigerian government. On Wednesday, a court in Nigeria ordered Gambaryan to be released from prison after the government dropped money laundering charges against him.
Gambaryan has been wrongfully detained in Nigeria since February when the country decided to take aim at crypto giant Binance and seized the company’s head of financial crime compliance in an apparent bid for political leverage
During his eight month imprisonment, Gambaryan has developed multiple serious ailments including malaria, pneumonia and complications from a herniated disk in his back that has made it difficult to walk and requires “high-risk specialized surgery.” Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission dropped the case against him on grounds of his deteriorating health, but denied a request for a formal acquittal.
Earlier this month, Gambaryan’s lawyers pleaded with the court to grant him bail to receive medical treatment for the urgent herniated disk but the request was denied.
The money laundering charges were dropped to allow Gambaryan to get medical attention, an EFCC lawyer told Reuters, but “diplomatic arrangements” also aided in securing his release.
Throughout his detention, his wife has been a fervent advocate for his freedom and Binance has promised to cooperate with the Nigerian government. More recently, the United States has turned up the heat on Nigeria, with numerous lawmakers calling his detention unjust, advocating for his release and visiting him in prison. In June, FBI director Chistopher Wray visited the country on an unrelated matter and Nigeria dropped some charges against Gambaryan soon after.
The EFCC will continue with its criminal prosecution of Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, for allegedly evading taxes and laundering $35 million.
The wrongful detention of Gambaryan and charges against Binance come as Nigeria is in the midst of a debilitating economic crisis. The local currency, the naira, has experienced a free-fall that the government repeatedly blames on the rise of cryptocurrencies. The government posits that Binance facilitated the collapse by allowing users to transfer assets out of the local currency.
Gambaryan was arrested during what was supposed to be a business trip to Nigeria to discuss the ongoing feud and potentially settle the dispute. Instead, the executive was detained alongside a fellow employee, who managed to escape Nigerian custody in March.
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