Tigran Gambariyan, Head of Financial Crimes Compliance at Binance Holdings, appeared in court in Abuja, Nigeria, on Thursday, April 4, 2024. Mr. Gambarian was indicted along with the company on charges including failure to pay value-added tax and violation of the Companies Act. (Getty Images)
Cryptocurrency executive Tigran Gambariyan has been released from a Nigerian prison and sent to the United States after an extensive pressure campaign by current and former government officials, members of Congress, and state attorneys general who urged the Biden administration to intervene on his behalf. is back.
It's unclear how much of a priority Gambarian's release was for the White House, but on Tuesday afternoon President Biden spoke by phone with Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, expressing his leadership in securing Gambarian's release. expressed his gratitude. Last week, Nigerian authorities dropped money laundering charges against the executive and granted him humanitarian release to seek treatment for worsening health problems.
Gambariyan, a U.S. national and former Internal Revenue Service employee who currently serves as Global Head of Financial Crimes Compliance and Investigations at cryptocurrency exchange Binance, was arrested and charged with money laundering and tax evasion during a trip to Nigeria. He spent eight months in Kuje prison. on behalf of his employer.
The Nigerian government said it would proceed with money laundering and tax evasion charges against Binance, which authorities deny, without Gambarian.
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Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes speaks during a press conference in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on Monday, September 9, 2019. A group of 50 attorneys general launched a wide-ranging investigation into Alpha's advertising practices. (Andrew Haller/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Gambarian has not released an official statement to the press, but in an exchange with FOX Business via X's Direct Message, he said his top priority is to reconnect with his family (his wife and two young children). He said it was about addressing health issues. While in prison, Gambarian suffered from complications from malaria, pneumonia, and a herniated disc, which left him confined to a wheelchair.
Earlier this month, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes and 17 other state attorneys general, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, designated Mr. Gambarian a hostage under Operation Robert Levinson Hostage Retrieval. Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken signed a bipartisan letter. and the Hostage Responsibility Act.
House Republicans demand return of cryptocurrency executives detained by Nigerian government
In this illustration taken on November 10, 2022, a representation of the cryptocurrency can be seen in front of the displayed Binance logo. Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
The 2019 law is named after FBI agent Robert Levinson, who disappeared while traveling to Iran as a private investigator in 2007. The law aims to prioritize designated hostages and their families in the U.S. government's efforts to secure their release.
“Mr. Tigran Gambalyan is being unlawfully detained by the Nigerian government under potentially life-threatening conditions. This is not a partisan issue, but one of genuine humanitarian concern and fundamental patriotic duty. Yes,” Reyes said.
The AG's letter calls on a group of 100 former federal officials and Justice Department prosecutors, some of whom worked with Gambarian during his administration, and the Biden administration to extradite Binance executives. It followed a similar letter from 16 members of Congress.
On Thursday, April 4, 2024, Binance Holdings' Head of Financial Crimes Compliance, Tigran Gambariyan, appears in court in Abuja, Nigeria. Ko (David Exodus/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
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In July, Republican Representative Rich McCormick (R-Ga.), who represents Gambarian in his home state of Georgia, along with Congressman French Hill (R-Arkansas) urged the Nigerian government to immediately release Gambarian. introduced a bipartisan resolution calling for . The bill, backed by 35 Republicans and 12 Democrats, was co-authored by former Florida Rep. Connie Mack IV, the state attorney general who is lobbying the Biden administration to release Gambarian. He also collaborated with the group.
Mack, the great-grandson of Connie Mack, a four-term congressman from Florida's 14th District and a member of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, has previously lobbied for the return of American citizens. , was approached by Gambarian's friends to assist him with his lawsuit. He was arrested in Colombia in 2019.
