The Year in Crypto: Binance’s Nigerian Hostage Crisis

In a year of incredible crypto stories, among the most remarkable was former IRS agent and Binance executive Tigran Gambarian, who was jailed for eight months in Nigeria on money laundering charges.

Daredevil escapes, courtroom collapses, and congressional decisions, the unfolding saga resembled a Hollywood movie—but with very real consequences for those involved. Here's how the story unfolded.

Gambarian, a US citizen, joined Binance in September 2021 as the crypto exchange's VP of Global Intelligence and Investigations. He has a decade of experience as a former Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Cyber ​​Crimes Division. Issues related to national security, terrorism financing and child sexual abuse materials (CSAM), as well as taking on some of the biggest investigations in crypto in the meantime – like the Silk Road corruption investigation and so on. The Mt. Gox hack.

At the time, Gambarian said Binns would “work closely with our colleagues to identify and prosecute criminals.” Little did he imagine that a few years later he would find himself in prison, charged with currency manipulation and facilitating money laundering.

In the year

The country's government, faced with a financial crisis, has turned its anger towards cryptocurrencies, blaming crypto trading platforms for currency manipulation.

As part of an ongoing investigation into crypto exchanges, Nigeria has asked Binance to provide information on the country's top 100 users, including their trading history over the past six months.

Binance executives knew the effort was risky. Gambarian and his colleagues quickly left the country after being told by a local official to “solve” the alleged tax evasion or “not leave Nigeria” weeks ago, fearing arrest by local authorities.

At this point, Gambarian assured his wife, Yuki, that he was “in and out.”

“You are our guest now.”

But on this occasion his former fears were realized. In the year On February 28, Gambarian and Anjarwala were arrested by the EFFC, Nigeria's anti-corruption agency. Although no charges were initially filed against them, the court decision saw Gambria and Anjarwala detained for 14 days as per the court order, which was then extended.

The pair were held in a heavily guarded compound where a Nigerian official reportedly told them, “You are now our guest.”

The executives were allowed to keep their phones while their passports were confiscated.

A month later, Englishman Anjarwala, who was visiting a local mosque, escaped arrest and fled the country using a hidden Kenyan passport – only handing over his British passport to the authorities.

Following Anjarwala's escape, the condition of his colleague in jail went from bad to worse. On the day Anjarwala fled Nigeria, the country's tax agency, the federal Inland Revenue Service, charged Binance, Gammbaryan and Anjarwalla with tax evasion. Days later, the exchange, along with Gambarian and Anjarwala, were indicted by the EFCC for money laundering of up to $35 million—which Gambarian suggested could be sued on behalf of the exchange.

“Blackmail”

Gambarian was subsequently transferred to the notorious Kuje Prison where suspected members of the Boko Haram terrorist group are being held. At the time, the Nigerian authorities of Gambia's owner accused the executive of “black mail”, while Binance issued a statement saying that it had no decision-making authority in the company.

Given Gambarian's U.S. citizenship and “police life-long” background, it may be surprising that the U.S. government initially dragged its heels over his troubles.

Although a congressional delegation was in Nigeria to discuss democracy and freedom while Gambarian was in prison, neither they nor the Ministry of Foreign Affairs initially raised the issue with the Nigerian government – the Gambian family said he had left Nigeria before the delegation made contact with Nigeria.

Indeed, several months passed before United States officials took notice of Gambian's condition, during which his health deteriorated and he collapsed on the second day of his trial.

In early June, efforts to secure The Gambian's release intensified. His local Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) joined House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) and 14 of his Republican colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden. He declared Gambarian “wrongfully detained” by the Nigerian government and urged the president to release him.

Days later, more than 100 former federal prosecutors and federal agents wrote to Secretary of State Tony Blinken asking the US government to “step up its efforts” in the Gambian case, saying it had denied Nigeria adequate medical care. As the Binance executive battled malaria and pneumonia, a bipartisan delegation of US lawmakers visited the prison, with Rep. Frances Hill (R-AR) protesting the “appalling” conditions in prison.

By July, Gambaria's condition had deteriorated to the point where he required a wheelchair in court, while Rep. McCormick and Rep. Hill recommended to Congress that he be released immediately — and accused the Nigerian government of trying to extort his employer.

As the months progressed, Yuki Gambarian recounted her struggle to explain to her children where their father was. “My son saw a plane in the sky and said, ‘Mommy, there's a plane. Is dad on the plane?”' she told the Designated podcast.

McCormick accused the Biden administration of not “doing enough to bring it home” despite its “enormous leverage” over Nigeria.

The U.S. government told Decrypt that “there's so much going on in this election cycle that it's not paying attention.” He also called the indifference surrounding Gambarian's case a crypto-related “stupidity” on the part of the US government, arguing that the industry “is still very, very wrong.”

He also pointed out that the Biden administration was “hypocritical” in failing to declare Gambarian a “citizen wrongfully detained by a foreign government” in contrast to efforts to free WNBA star Brittany Griner from Russian detention.

“We went to hit a young and healthy individual and not hit a healthy person?” Gambrian asked McCormick after he was seen struggling to walk in courtroom footage.

It took until late October before Nigeria made an impromptu vote to drop the charges against Gambarian and allow him to be released. Later that day, the United States Department of State announced the establishment of a Bilateral Contact Group on Illicit Finance and Cryptocurrencies in partnership with Nigeria to secure Gambian's release.

Whatever horse-trading was going on behind the scenes, Gambian was on his way home, ending his and his family's “living nightmare”.

But Binance CEO Richard Teng praised the executive's “tremendous strength” and said they look forward to “playing a constructive role” in Nigeria's blockchain economy, while Nigerian authorities will continue to press charges against the exchange. It appears that the underlying tensions that led to Gambia's eight-month imprisonment remain.