For eight months, a criminal investigator who pioneered cryptocurrency tracking as a law enforcement technique was, in a bizarre twist of fate, jailed in Nigeria on charges of money laundering and tax evasion. Now maybe he’ll finally come home.
On Wednesday, an Abuja court ruled that criminal charges against Gambaryan, a Binance executive who previously worked as an IRS investigator for a decade, would be dropped on medical grounds amid mounting pressure from the U.S. government for Gambaryan’s release.
Gambaryan was detained in February and later jailed after being invited to the country by Nigerian officials to discuss the dispute between the Nigerian government and Binance over his history of money laundering and the exchange’s alleged role in the devaluation of Nigeria’s national currency. He has since been imprisoned in Kuje Prison, where, according to his family and lawyers, he suffered severely from a herniated intervertebral disc in his spine, which requires immediate surgery.
Despite a Nigerian court’s decision to drop charges against Gambaryan, first reported by Bloomberg NewsAccording to Patrick Hillman, a former Binance executive and Gambaryan’s associate, Gambaryan is still in Nigeria and returned to prison after his sentencing. “We’re all anxiously waiting to hear that he’s on the plane, in the air, coming home,” Hillman says. “Until we get that checked out, we’re all just clutching our shirt collars and waiting to make sure there are no more hiccups.”
A spokesman for Gambaryan’s family declined to comment, and Binance did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The country’s criminal case against Binance, despite Gambaryan’s release, will continue, according to Reuters.
International pressure continues to grow on Nigeria to release Gambaryan, whose health has clearly deteriorated during his time in prison. In July, he appeared at a court hearing in a wheelchair. in September recorded video limping into court, leaning on a crutch and begging in vain for facilitate from a Nigerian security guard.
Meanwhile, 16 members of Congress signed a letter to the White House calling for the Gambaryan case to be treated as a hostage situation. A resolution passed by the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee called on the United States to press for his release. Recently, a group of state attorneys general similarly called on the White House to exploit the necessary pressure to release Gambaryan.