The US government thanked the federal government of Nigeria for passing laws that allowed jailed Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan to be freed.
On Thursday, this was made public in a statement written by Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State.
Nairametrics earlier said that Gambaryan was freed on Wednesday by the Federal High Court in Abuja after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) asked for it.
The anti-corruption agency stated that the detainee’s health was getting worse, which led to an application for his release from a money laundering case he was involved in with Binance.
The EFCC also said that his release was due to diplomatic talks between the Nigerian government and its U.S. partner.
This is what the US government says:
Blinken said, “The United States thanks the Government of Nigeria for releasing U.S. citizen Tigran Gambaryan on medical grounds, which will allow him to return to the United States to get the specialized medical care he needs.”
“This good result shows how strong the partnership between the U.S. and Nigeria is and how committed we both are to working together to advance our common interests,” he said.
Blinken stressed that close cooperation between U.S. and Nigerian law enforcement is still an important part of the two countries’ relationship. The US is also committed to working closely with the Nigerian government to address shared concerns and put the safety and well-being of citizens on both sides first.
In response to the news, Yuki Gambaryan, Gambaryan’s wife, had said, “It is a huge relief that this day has finally come.” The eight months before now have been terrible. I wish he hadn’t been locked up for so long or that his health hadn’t gotten so bad, but now we can focus on getting better as a family.
She told the U.S. government how grateful she was that they had worked to get him released.
Background
Nigerian officials arrested two top Binance executives on February 28, 2024. Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan man of 37 years who is the regional manager for Africa, and Tigran Gambaryan, an American man of 39 years who is in charge of preventing financial crime at Binance, were both arrested.
According to Nairametrics, the executives sued Nigerian government organizations for violating their constitutional right to freedom.
The two groups were charged by the EFCC, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and Binance on charges of tax evasion, foreign exchange violations, and laundering money. Later, Anjarwalla left Nigeria while he was in jail, but Gambaryan stayed in jail because the court ordered him to.
Gambaryan asked for bail twice, but the court turned him down both times, which matched the EFCC’s assessment that he was likely to run away.
But Gambaryan’s family kept worrying about his health and asking the EFCC to free him so they could continue their case against Binance.
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