On February 26, 2024, Nigerian authorities detained Binance\u2019s vice president for global intelligence and investigations, Tigran Gambaryan. Half a year on, he remains in custody, and the executive\u2019s family says his health has been seriously harmed.<\/p>\n
A day before the detention, the executive, together with the exchange\u2019s director for West and East Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla, arrived in the country to discuss the company\u2019s current problems with the authorities.<\/p>\n
ForkLog recalls who Tigran Gambaryan is and examines why his arrest concerns more than just Binance.<\/p>\n
Little is known about Gambaryan\u2019s early biography. He began his public-sector career as an auditor at the CDTFA<\/span>, where he investigated tax violations. Far more information is available from his time at the IRS<\/span>.<\/p>\n According to his page<\/a> on LinkedIn, Gambaryan worked there from 2011 to 2021. He took particular interest in cases involving cryptocurrencies.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was an innovator in investigating things that very few people in the country knew about [\u2026]. I do not think anyone has had a greater impact on such investigations,\u201d said former prosecutor Will Frentzen in an interview with Wired<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n As a federal agent, Gambaryan investigated<\/a> the actions of two former Drug Enforcement Administration employees \u2014 Shaun Bridges and Carl Force \u2014 who worked undercover in the Silk Road case. It later emerged that they themselves were involved in a criminal scheme and seriously abused their powers.<\/p>\n The work of the investigative team, which included Gambaryan, resulted in sentences for the ex-agents: Force received 6.5 years (extortion, money laundering and obstruction of justice), Bridges got nearly six years for stealing bitcoins from a darknet-market dealer and money laundering, and later faced additional charges.<\/p>\n The next high-profile case involving Gambaryan concerned the exchanges Mt.Gox and BTC-e. The investigation found that bitcoins stolen from the first platform were moved to wallets belonging to BTC-e administrator Alexander Vinnik, and then to the exchange itself.<\/p>\n The probe led to Vinnik\u2019s arrest in Greece. In August 2022 he was extradited to the United States, and two years later he pleaded guilty<\/a> to a money-laundering conspiracy via BTC-e.<\/p>\n \u201cThe long-standing investigation was supported by numerous former prosecutors and investigators from several agencies, including IRS-CI Special Agent James Heid and former IRS-CI Special Agent Tigran Gambaryan,\u201d noted<\/a> representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice in May 2024.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n By then Gambaryan had already been in a Nigerian prison for several months.<\/p>\n In September 2021 the cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced that it had hired Tigran Gambaryan as vice president for global intelligence and investigations.\u00a0<\/p>\n A year later, Binance became the first company in the industry to join the non-profit NCFTA<\/span>, which focuses on identifying and neutralising cybercrime threats. At the time, the executive said the success of the crypto industry depends on close cooperation between the sector and law-enforcement and other government agencies.\u00a0<\/p>\n Adhering to that approach, Gambaryan ultimately decided to address the exchange\u2019s problems in Nigeria. They began back in June 2022 \u2014 in a comment to ForkLog, Binance representatives noted that after the regulator published rules requiring crypto platforms to obtain permits, the company approached the local SEC<\/span> about the licensing process but received no reply.\u00a0<\/p>\n In June 2023 the Commission ordered the exchange to stop soliciting Nigerian investors, and a month later declared Binance\u2019s activities in the country illegal.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to a WSJ<\/a> article, Gambaryan appeared in Abuja<\/span> in early January 2024 \u2014 a month after the exchange received a letter from the chairman of the Financial Crimes Committee requesting attendance at a public inquiry. As part of a company delegation, he met local officials who expressed concerns about violations of AML<\/span> rules and tax evasion.<\/p>\n Sources for the newspaper called the trip \u201cscary\u201d. According to them, one official suggested delegation members faced detention. The same day, a Nigerian lawyer working with Binance named the cost of settling the issues \u2014 more than $100m, said three people familiar with the talks.<\/p>\n WSJ\u2019s interlocutors clarified that after this Gambaryan and his colleagues cut short the trip and left Nigeria. However, a month later the vice president decided to return. The newspaper hints this was his decision, and Binance supposedly received assurances from local officials about the executive\u2019s safety.<\/p>\n Hostility from Nigeria\u2019s government intensified. The authorities ordered<\/a> telecoms to block access to certain platforms, including Binance. And in early March it emerged that they considered<\/a> the exchange responsible for the depreciation of the NGN<\/span>.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople on the Binance platform are fixing the [NGN] exchange rate, which quickly affects Nigeria\u2019s economy at a time when the country is trying to stabilise it,\u201d presidential adviser Bayo Onanuga said at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n This information surfaced after media reports of the detention<\/a> on February 26 of unnamed company executives. In an interview with the BBC<\/a>, presidential spokesman Zakari Mijinyawa said exchange employees were under investigation and \u201care being questioned in an investigation by security agencies on foreign exchange market regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n Only on March 12 did WSJ report<\/a> that the detainees were Gambaryan and the exchange\u2019s director for West and East Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla. According to the paper, they arrived in Abuja on February 25 at the authorities\u2019 invitation. After their first meeting they were taken to hotels, told to pack, had their passports confiscated and were moved to a \u201cguesthouse\u201d run by Nigeria\u2019s National Security Agency.<\/p>\n At the end of March it became known that Nigerian authorities accused Anjarwalla, Gambaryan and Binance Holdings Limited of tax evasion<\/a>, operating an unregistered business and money laundering.<\/p>\n On March 22, Anjarwalla escaped custody, but law enforcement tracked him down in Kenya<\/a> and agreed his extradition. On April 8 a court detained Gambaryan<\/a>, who pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n In May Reuters reported that Gambaryan\u2019s condition had sharply worsened<\/a>, preventing him from attending a scheduled hearing. His lawyers cited malaria and the need for comprehensive medical care. According to Binance\u2019s chronology, held by ForkLog, the executive fainted at the May 23 court session.<\/p>\n A month later, U.S. Representatives French Hill and Chrissy Houlahan visited<\/a> him. They said he was suffering from malaria and bilateral pneumonia but was being denied access to quality treatment. Officials from the Nigerian government quickly rebutted<\/a> those claims.\u00a0<\/p>\n In August Binance CEO Richard Teng reported a rapid deterioration<\/a> in Gambaryan\u2019s condition. His wife, Yuki, said he was suffering from pneumonia and tonsillitis and, due to an aggravated herniated disc, could not walk. The authorities refused<\/a> to provide him with a wheelchair. In early September, Gambaryan appeared at a hearing on crutches and, at one point, according to the family<\/a>, broke down in tears from pain in the courtroom.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is fvcked uppp\u201d<\/p>\n Binance executive cries out in Nigerian court. pic.twitter.com\/ZS0qNVpg86<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 @????????????? (@OneJoblessBoy) September 2, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n
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How Nigeria became a trap<\/strong><\/h2>\n
From vice president to detainee<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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To a wheelchair in six months<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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