Nigeria Dropped Its Money-Laundering Case Against Binance Executive Tigran Gambaryan

Nigeria withdrew its money-laundering case against Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan on October 23, 2024, and a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered his release. The action ended the personal prosecution of the cryptocurrency exchange’s head of financial crime compliance after a detention that had begun in February 2024.

Reuters reported from the courtroom that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC, withdrew its case against Gambaryan so he could obtain medical treatment outside Nigeria. Contemporaneous Nigerian reporting likewise recorded the withdrawal and identified Justice Emeka Nwite as the presiding judge.

The distinction between Gambaryan and Binance was central. The October 23 action removed the employee from the money-laundering prosecution; it did not terminate the government’s case against the company. Nor did the withdrawal amount to a judgment resolving the underlying allegations on their merits.

A corporate dispute became a personal prosecution

A congressional resolution introduced on July 10, 2024 records that Gambaryan traveled to Nigeria on February 26 at the government’s invitation for meetings about Binance’s compliance problems. Nigerian authorities took his passport and detained him after those meetings. He was later charged alongside Binance and transferred to Kuje prison.

The same congressional record says a separate tax proceeding against Gambaryan had been closed by June 14 and that its tax-related charges had been dropped. The EFCC money-laundering case nevertheless continued, leaving Gambaryan personally exposed while the government pursued allegations involving his employer.

That structure made the case significant beyond one exchange. It tested whether a jurisdiction could effectively hold an employee as the available representative of an overseas digital-asset company operating through internet services. U.S. lawmakers argued that Gambaryan was being detained as leverage against Binance; that was their stated position, not a judicial finding accepted by Nigeria.

The Nigerian government maintained during the dispute that its enforcement process followed domestic law. Binance disputed the allegations and repeatedly sought Gambaryan’s release. The reviewed records do not establish that the October 23 withdrawal settled the broader regulatory or criminal conflict between Nigeria and the exchange.

Medical and diplomatic factors shaped the outcome

Reuters attributed the withdrawal to medical considerations and reported that prosecutors referred to international and diplomatic factors. By October 23, Gambaryan’s health had become a major part of the proceedings. The July congressional resolution documented malaria, mobility problems and repeated disputes over access to medical treatment and records.

Those descriptions came partly from Gambaryan’s lawyers, family and congressional supporters. They should not be treated as an independent medical assessment. The verifiable legal development is narrower: prosecutors withdrew the money-laundering case against Gambaryan, and the court ordered his release.

Physical release also remained uncertain during the October 23 reporting window. WIRED reported that Gambaryan had been returned to detention after the ruling while supporters waited for confirmation that he had left Nigeria. Accordingly, the court order should not be conflated with a verified departure on October 23.

Why the ruling mattered

For global cryptocurrency companies, the case illustrated the personal risks facing employees sent to negotiate with governments during disputes over licensing, currency controls, taxation and anti-money-laundering compliance. The withdrawal reduced Gambaryan’s individual exposure but did not establish that corporate officers would be insulated from similar proceedings elsewhere.

No cryptocurrency price, percentage return, exchange volume or on-chain statistic is used here. The surviving evidence supports a legal and diplomatic development, not a measurable market reaction.

Later confirmation

On October 24, 2024, the U.S. State Department thanked Nigeria for releasing Gambaryan on medical grounds and allowing him to return to the United States for specialized care. That primary record resolves the event-day uncertainty about his physical release, but it is later context and does not establish that he departed Nigeria on October 23.