The Nigerian government dropped charges against a Binance Holdings Ltd. executive standing trial on allegations of money laundering and currency manipulation, who had been detained in the country since February.
The case against Tigran Gambaryan, head of financial crime compliance at Binance, was discontinued on the grounds of his ill health, according to people familiar with the court’s decision.
Gambaryan’s lawyer sought an acquittal of the charges, but that request was denied, the people said.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nigeria’s anti-graft unit that had brought the charges, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. A representatives for Gambaryan’s family didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gambaryan, an American citizen whom US lawmakers say has been unjustly detained, had an appeal for bail on health grounds rejected by the court earlier in October. Gambaryan’s lawyer had pleaded his client be granted bail to allow him to seek medical help for a herniated disk that was making it difficult to walk.
The faceoff between Africa’s most-populous nation and the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange burst into public view in February, when Nigerian authorities detained Gambaryan and a colleague – who subsequently managed to escape – during a visit to Nigeria.
Gambaryan, a former agent for the US Internal Revenue Service, has been held in the Kuje correctional center in the capital, Abuja, since early April.
Binance took to social media to advocate for his release, arguing that his visit to Nigeria wasn’t as a decision maker for the company. It also upped the stakes when Chief Executive Officer Richard Teng claimed in a blog that its team was asked for a “secret” payment to make its problems go away while they were in Abuja in January.
Nigeria rejects the allegation, which it called a tactic to divert attention away from Binance’s activities.
–Bloomberg
