Tigran Gambarian was finally freed.
Ever since Nigerian authorities placed the Binance executive under house arrest in February and abruptly decided to drop charges against him on Wednesday, Tigran Gambarian has wanted one thing — to go home to Atlanta, Georgia, and be reunited with his wife, Yuki, and their daughter. .
Now, after months of agony and futility, it may be clear that Gambarian must do just that.
Gambarian was released from custody Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the case, but it was unclear if he arrived at the U.S. Embassy or how soon he would go home.
Questions
Still, the 40-year-old compliance executive at Binance, the world’s top cryptocurrency exchange, leaves many questions in his wake.
Did pressure from Washington finally convince the Nigerian government to reverse course and free Gambarian?
Ex-US Federal Agent Going Home?
And what happens after Binance and the embattled crypto scene in Nigeria, as the state continues to investigate the exchange over money laundering allegations?
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Although these questions remain unanswered, Gambarian’s part in this dramatic case seems to have come to an end.
Here is the timeline of the case:
February 26, 2024
Nigerian authorities have placed Tigran Gambarian, head of Binance’s financial crimes compliance department, and Nadeem Anjarwallah, regional head of the exchange in Kenya, under house arrest in Abuja. They don’t make public announcements.
People familiar with the action say News Binance was caught by officials at Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and the two men are largely responsible for the 90% drop in the value of the country’s fiat currency, the naira.
Officials allege that Binance’s digital version of the naira is enabling bad actors to convert the currency. Moreover, they say, Binance is allowing criminals to launder illicit amounts on its crypto exchange.
February
Nigerian authorities are demanding that Binance disclose the personal and transactional data of millions of customers in the country, according to people familiar with the matter. Binance refused to do so.
March 22
Anjarwala evaded his guards during a visit to a mosque and used a Kenyan passport he had not surrendered to escape from the airport in the Nigerian capital. Nigerian authorities later said Anjarwalla had returned to Kenya and issued an Interpol red notice.
March 29
Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency has charged Binance and Gambarian with money laundering of $35 million.
April
Nigerian authorities have frozen 1,100 bank accounts of crypto traders as part of a crackdown on currency manipulation, according to court documents. The move is linked to a state legal battle with Binance.
Gambarian was remanded to Kuje prison on April 8 after a judge denied him bail on the money laundering charge.
May 7
Binance CEO Richard Teng accused Nigerian officials of trying to shake up Binance by demanding a $150 million bribe from Gambarian when he visited the country in January.
“Our lawyer reported back to him that he had demanded a substantial payment in cryptocurrency to be secretly paid within 48 hours to resolve these issues and that our decision would take until the morning,” Teng said in a blog post. .
May 23
Gambarian collapsed in court on the second day of his trial. His lawyers and family members said he was suffering from malaria and pneumonia.
Justice Emeka Nwite ordered the prison authorities to take Gambarian to the Nizaim Hospital, an elite private medical facility in the capital, Abuja, for treatment. News Learn from someone who knows about the decision.
June 8
In an exclusive interview, Yuki Gambarian said News She expects more help from the US government in pressing for her husband’s release from a Nigerian prison. “I was surprised how long it took us to get to this point,” she said. “It feels like the US government has just crossed the starting line, which should have happened a long time ago.”
June 21
Two members of the US Congress – Representative French Hill, Republican of Arkansas, and Representative Chrissy Houlahan, Democrat of Pennsylvania – visited Gambarian in Cuje prison and reported that his condition had worsened. “He was denied adequate medical care,” Hill said in X.
July 5
Olubukola Akinwunmi, Head of Payments Policy and Regulation at the Central Bank of Nigeria, testified at Gambarian’s hearing that Binance was operating illegally in the country.
September 27
Linda Greenfield-Thomas, the US ambassador to the United Nations, told Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tugger that resolving Gambarian’s plight is vital to US relations with Africa’s most populous country.
October 11
Justice Nwhite dismissed Gambarian’s bail petition on a technicality and he was remanded to prison for the duration of his trial.
October 18
Gambarian misses court appearances as his condition worsens. A prison official told the court he was “very ill”.
October 23
Nigerian prosecutors dropped charges against Tigran Gambarian and told the court he should not be held responsible for the actions taken by his employer, Binance.
Osato Awan-Nomayo Our Nigeria based DeFi representative. He covers DeFi and technology. To share tips or information about articles, please contact him here [email protected]. Ed Robinson is a story editor at News. Contact him at [email protected].
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