While serving as a U.S. federal agent, Tigran Gambaryan helped lead landmark investigations that brought down cryptocurrency thieves and money launderers, dark web drug dealers, and even crypto-funded child exploitation networks. Now, in his post-election role at cryptocurrency exchange Binance, he himself has become the target of a very different kind of federal crypto crackdown: Over the past two weeks, he and another Binance executive Detained against his will by Nigerian officials. .
Gambaryan, the current head of Binance’s criminal investigation team, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, Binance’s regional manager for Africa in Kenya, have had their passports confiscated since February 26 and have been held at a government property in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. Neither man was informed of any criminal charges, according to their families. Instead, the two appear to be involved in a broader campaign to ban cryptocurrency trading in Nigeria, based on the country’s currency’s sharp depreciation. Financial Times, The newspaper first reported the detention of the two executives but did not reveal their identities.
“There are no clear answers to anything: what happened to him, what will happen when he comes back,” said Yuki Gambayan, Gambayan’s wife. “Not knowing that is killing me.”
Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen, and Anjarwalla, a dual British-Kenyan citizen, arrived in Abuja on February 25, their families said, after the Nigerian government invited them to resolve their ongoing dispute with Binance. after the dispute. The next day, they met with Nigerian officials intending to discuss the government ordering the country’s telecommunications companies to block access to Binance and other cryptocurrency exchanges, which regulators accuse of devaluing its official currency, the naira, and causing “illegal liquidity”. “Funds.
However, shortly after Gambayan and Anjarwala first met with the Nigerian government, Gambayan and Anjarwala were taken to a hotel and detained, according to their families. Told to pack up and move into a “guesthouse” run by Nigeria’s National Security Agency. Officials confiscated their passports and held both men in their homes against their will for two weeks and counting.
U.S. State Department officials visited Gambarian and British Foreign Office representatives visited Anjarwala, but Nigerian government guards were also present to prevent them from speaking privately, their families said.
When contacted by WIRED, a Binance spokesperson declined to comment on what the individuals or the company itself have been charged with, or any demands the Nigerian government may make for their release. A Binance spokesperson told Wired: “While it would be inappropriate for us to comment on the substance of these allegations at this time, we can say that we are working with the Nigerian authorities to bring Nadeem and Tigran safely home with The family is reunited.” “They are professionals of the highest integrity and we will provide them with all the support we can. We are confident that this matter will be resolved quickly.”