Well, that was unexpected. Nigeria has decided to drop all charges against Tigran Gambaryan, the Binance exec who was arrested back in February 2024. Originally charged with tax evasion and money laundering, Gambaryan is now free after the government’s prosecuting team said he was just an employee, not the mastermind behind Binance’s moves. as reported by premium times
Arrest Drama
Gambaryan, along with another Binance exec, Nadeem Anjarwalla, was arrested after flying into Nigeria for what was supposed to be a tension-easing meeting with government officials. The whole ordeal stemmed from claims that Binance was behind the naira’s wild currency swings. Anjarwalla managed to avoid detention, but Gambaryan wasn’t so lucky.
U.S. Gets Involved
Despite heavy pressure from the U.S. government and lawmakers, Nigeria wasn’t budging on bail for Gambaryan. He even claim he had malaria and pneumonia while stuck in Kuje prison, but authorities denied him proper medical care. Thankfully, after months of back-and-forth, the charges were finally dropped on Wednesday.