Nigerian Court Orders Release Of Binance Executive

There has a notable legal development for Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan, detained in Nigeria since February, in a money-laundering and tax-evasion case.

Reuters reported that a Nigerian court on Wednesday has ordered the release of Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan after the government dropped money laundering charges against him to allow him to get medical treatment abroad.

In September a bail appeal had been made on medical grounds, however the country’s economic crimes agency opposed the request at the time.

Binance executives

Gambaryan had told the court last month that he has a herniated disc and has suffered from malaria and pneumonia. He had appeared in court on crutches and said prison officials had denied him the use of a wheelchair.

An earlier appeal for bail had been denied in May.

US citizen Gambaryan (a former special agent for the US Internal Revenue Service) and British-Kenyan regional manager for Africa Nadeem Anjarwalla had been detained after their arrival in the capital city Abuja on 26 February.

Both were charged with profiting from money-laundering involving more than $35m.

However Anjarwalla escaped from custody on 22 March and is believed to have left Nigeria on a passport he did not hand over to authorities.

In March Anjarwalla had asked guards at the guest house where he was being held to allow him to go to a mosque and never returned, local media had reported.

Authorities had reportedly confiscated his British passport but the whereabouts of his Kenyan passport was unknown.

The two executives had flown into the country to negotiate with government officials after the government blocked transactions to Binance and other cryptocurrency platforms.

Gambaryan freed

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange was accused of tax evasion in the country.

In addition to Binance Nigeria barred transactions to Coinbase, Forextime, Kraken, OctaFX and other platforms in a move to block speculation on the country’s currency, the niara, whose value had been slumping to record lows.

Now Gambaryan, the head of financial crime compliance at Binance, has been freed after Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) withdrew the case against him, a lawyer for the EFCC told Reuters on Wednesday.

The EFCC said it would continue the money laundering case against Binance without Gambaryan.