Since February 2024, pioneer crypto investigator and Binance chief financial crime compliance officer Tigran Gambaryan has been detained in Nigeria for the alleged crimes of his employer despite not having any decision-making power at the firm. After over eight months, however, the Binance executive’s ordeal may now be at an end.
Charges Dropped
Money laundering charges brought against Tigran Gambaryan by Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), in March 2024, have now been dropped.
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According to reports from local news outlets, the prosecution decided to drop the charges against Gambaryan in an unpublicized hearing on Wednesday, October 23, asserting that the Binance employee lacked oversight over the firm’s financial decisions.
Notably, this is an argument the defense has made since the beginning of the case that had been met with fierce resistance from the prosecution, which argued that Gambaryan was an agent of the firm who could be legally held accountable for the firm’s actions.
The unpublicized hearing comes two days before an October 25 hearing that was scheduled for an update on the Binance man’s health which has rapidly declined in detention and rendered him unable to appear in a court hearing on October 18.
This is a developing story that will be updated with more details shortly.
