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Pressure Mounts on Congress to Hold Jailed Nigerian Crypto Investigator Tigran Gambaryan as a Hostility
When Tigran Gambaryan was first invited to meet with the Nigerian government in February to resolve a dispute with his employer, cryptocurrency exchange Binance, Nigerian officials held him against his will, took away his passport, and told him he was a “guest” of the state. He has since been charged with financial crimes and jailed for months on suspicion of crime.
Pressure is mounting within the U.S. Congress for the Biden administration to treat him like what his supporters say he has always been: a hostage, held illegally by an unaccountable foreign country.
On Wednesday, U.S. Congressman Rich McCormick, who represents Gambaryan’s district in his home state of Georgia, introduced a resolution in the House Foreign Affairs Committee urging the Nigerian government to release Gambaryan and calling on the U.S. government to acknowledge that Gambaryan was unlawfully held hostage in an attempt to extort money from his employer, Binance. The resolution is the latest in a growing series of congressional calls for the White House to increase pressure on Nigeria to release Gambaryan, a former federal agent who has led many of the most significant cryptocurrency-related criminal cases of the last decade during his time as an IRS criminal investigator.
“The continued detention of Tigran Gambaryan in Nigeria is a clear violation of his rights, and he is simply being used as a tool of extortion by the Nigerian government,” McCormick wrote in a statement. “We urge Nigeria to immediately release Tigran and provide him with necessary medical care and due process. The United States government must do everything in its power to secure the release of Tigran Gambaryan and all of our citizens wrongfully detained abroad.”
McCormick’s decision to push for Gambaryan’s release follows an earlier decision Open letter from 16 members of Congress that asked the White House to transfer Gambaryan’s case to the Office of the President’s Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs. The letter noted that Gambaryan had been suffering from malaria and pneumonia, collapsing in court one day into the trial, but was denied proper care in a hospital. “Gambaryan’s health and well-being are in danger and we fear for his life,” the letter read. “Immediate action is essential to ensure his safety and preserve his life. We must act swiftly before it is too late.” Two House members, French Hill and Chrissy Houlahan, visited Gambaryan in prison last month and also called for his release.
Gambaryan and another Binance staffer, Nadeem Anjarwalla, flew to Abuja in late February at the invitation of the Nigerian government after officials there accused Binance, where Gambaryan works as a financial crimes investigations and compliance officer, of money laundering and contributing to the devaluation of the country’s national currency, the naira. But just days after that deal, the two men were held in a government-run “guest house” against their will.
The situation further escalated when Anjarwalla, who lives in Kenya, escaped while visiting a mosque for Ramadan prayers. Gambaryan was then charged with tax evasion and money laundering (all indications are that these charges are related to Binance’s behavior, not Gambaryan personally) and transferred to Kuje Prison, where he has been held ever since.
Tigran Gambaryan
Photo: Binance
The charges against Gambaryan are particularly ironic given his track record as a federal agent. Before being hired by Binance, which was widely seen as part of the exchange’s efforts to clean up poor compliance in its operations and years of alleged money laundering documented in a $4.3 billion settlement with the U.S. government last year, Gambaryan has spent a decade leading many of the most significant crypto crime investigations in history. From 2014 to 2017 alone, for example, Gambaryan identified Two Corrupt Federal Agents Who Got Rich with Silk Road Cryptocurrency dark web drug market, helped track down half a billion dollars in bitcoin stolen from the first cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox, helped develop a secret cryptocurrency tracking method that Server Hosting Massive Dark Web Criminal Marketplace AlphaBay Identifiedand helped bring about the demolition of the Welcome to the Cryptocurrency-Funded Child Sexual Abuse Video Network.
Gambaryan’s supporters point out that his work for the IRS has led to the seizure of more than $4 billion, including some of the largest seizures in U.S. criminal justice history. “He’s done so much good for this country over the course of his career,” Gambaryan’s wife, Yuki, told WIRED in March. “I think it’s his turn to get that same support from his country.”