Tigran Gambaryan, the Head of Financial Crime Compliance for Binance and a respected former US Government official, has commenced legal proceedings against the Nigerian government after he was detained on a business trip to the country to meet with local authorities. Mr Gambaryan has lodged a motion with the Federal High Court in Abuja, alleging a violation of his fundamental human rights and that the government's confiscation of his passport runs counter to Nigeria's constitutional protections.
Binance, along with other cryptocurrency exchanges, have come under intense scrutiny in Nigeria over allegations of currency manipulation and tax evasion. Mr Gambaryan was detained by the Nigerian authorities on a trip to the country to meet with the Office of the National Security Advisor (ONSA) and the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). It understood that Mr Gambaryan's trip and subsequent detention arose initially from the Nigerian government's requests for information from Binance, rather than any alleged personal wrongdoing on his part.
Mr Gambaryan and his colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla, Binance's regional manager for Africa, were first detained by Nigerian authorities in February. It has been reported that Mr Anjarwalla managed to escape custody earlier this week, utilising his Kenyan passport to depart the country after surrendering his British travel document. He has reportedly followed Mr Gambaryan's lead in filing a similar lawsuit against the Nigerian government for wrongful detention.
Binance announced it would discontinue all services in Nigeria on 8 March 2024. It also released a statement in mid-March noting that it had complied with over 600 information requests from Nigerian law enforcement agencies. The country's Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has since levied tax evasion charges against Binance and the senior executives, in an apparent attempt to justify their ongoing detention.
Mr Gambaryan is a well-known figure in the blockchain industry, and one of the key protagonists in Andy Greenberg's book, Tracers in the Dark. As a senior IRS official, Mr Gambaryan was involved in probes into Silk Road, Russian crypto exchange BTC-e and the infamous Mt. Gox hack, among many others. Mr Gambaryan's detention has gained significant media and public attention in the United States. A change.org petition has been created by his wife, petitioning for his release from custody.
Mr Gambaryan's detention is a stark reminder of the uncertain and shifting legal landscape for cryptocurrency in many countries, and the importance of ensuring the safety and security of personnel when they travel and represent businesses. In this case, cryptocurrency's success in serving the needs of Nigerians battling a volatile currency seems to have attracted scrutiny and political risk for exchanges like Binance, with unfortunate consequences for its own staff. The authors hope that the efforts of the blockchain industry and others will see the swift release of Mr Gambaryan.
You can join the change.org petition and add your voice here if you would like to support Mr Gambaryan.
Written by Luke Higgins, Steven Pettigrove and Michael Bacina