In a bizarre twist of fate, a criminal investigator who pioneered cryptocurrency tracking as a law enforcement method has been detained and imprisoned in Nigeria on charges of money laundering and tax evasion for eight months. Now he may finally come home.
On Wednesday, an Abuja court ruled that criminal charges against Gambarian, a Binance executive who served as an IRS criminal investigator for 10 years, would be dismissed on medical grounds, as pressure mounts from the U.S. government to secure his release. The court ruled that the case should be withdrawn for the following reasons.
Gambarian was invited to the country in February by Nigerian government officials to discuss the dispute between the government and Binance over its history of money laundering and the exchange's role in the devaluation of Nigeria’s national currency. was arrested and later imprisoned. He has since been detained in the country’s Kuje prison, where his family and lawyer say he has a herniated disc in his spine and requires immediate surgery.
Despite a Nigerian court’s decision to drop the charges against Gambarian, which was first reported by Bloomberg News, Gambarian remains a Nigerian citizen, according to Patrick Hillman, a former Binance executive and Gambarian colleague involved in the case. He was reportedly sent back to prison after being sentenced. Lobbying to free him. “We’re now waiting to hear that he’s going to get on a plane and fly and come home,” Hillman said. “Until that’s confirmed, we’re all just clutching our shirt collars and waiting to see if there’s anything else wrong.”
A spokesperson for Gambarian’s family declined to comment, and Binance did not respond to a request for comment. Despite Gambarian’s release, the country’s criminal case against Binance will continue, according to Reuters.
International pressure on Nigeria to release Gambarian was steadily increasing, and his health was clearly deteriorating while in prison. In July, he attended a court hearing in a wheelchair. In September, he was captured on video limping into court on crutches and pleading in vain for help from a Nigerian security guard.
Meanwhile, 16 members of Congress signed a letter to the White House calling for Gambarian’s case to be treated as a hostage crisis. A resolution introduced in the House Foreign Affairs Committee called on the United States to facilitate his release. More recently, a group of state attorneys general similarly urged the White House to use the influence necessary to free Gambarian.
