For eight months, the criminal investigator who pioneered cryptocurrency tracking as a law enforcement technique, in a strange twist of fate, was detained and then jailed in Nigeria facing charges of money laundering and tax evasion. Now, he may finally return home.
On Wednesday in Abuja, a court ruled that criminal charges against Gambaryan, a Binance executive who previously worked as an IRS criminal investigator for a decade, will be dropped on medical grounds as pressure from the US government has mounted. to secure Gambaryan’s release.
Gambaryan was arrested in February and later jailed after being invited to the country by Nigerian officials to discuss a dispute between the Nigerian government and Binance over its history of money laundering and the exchange’s alleged role in the devaluation of the Nigerian national currency. He has since been held in the country’s Kuje prison, where, according to his family and lawyers, he is seriously suffering from a herniated disc in his spine that requires immediate surgery.
Despite the Nigerian court’s decision to drop charges against Gambaryan, first reported by Bloomberg NewsGambaryan is still in Nigeria and was returned to jail after the ruling, according to Patrick Hillman, a former Binance executive and colleague of Gambaryan who has been involved in the lobbying effort to free him. “We’re all waiting to hear that he’s on a plane, flying and heading home,” Hillman says. “Until we have verification of that, we will all hold on to our collars and wait to make sure there are no other setbacks.”
A spokesperson 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 has steadily increased on Nigeria to release Gambaryan, whose health has visibly worsened during his time in prison. In July, he attended a court hearing in a wheelchair. In September, a captured video He limped into court with only one crutch, asking a Nigerian security guard in vain for help.
Meanwhile, 16 members of Congress signed a letter to the White House asking that Gambaryan’s case be treated as a hostage situation. A resolution introduced in the House foreign affairs committee called on the United States to press for his release. More recently, a group of state attorneys general similarly called on the White House to apply the leverage necessary to free Gambaryan.