Charges against Tigran Gambaryan, an American held in Nigeria as part of a criminal case against the giant cryptocurrency exchange Binance, have been dropped, Nigerian officials said on Wednesday.
Mr. Gambaryan, who was in custody for eight months, was released from prison in Abuja on Wednesday, according to a person familiar with his whereabouts, and is expected return to the United States soon.
Mr. Gambaryan is in poor health, and officials cited an urgent need for medical treatment as the reason for his release. But even if he recovers from his ailments, including malaria, Mr. Gambaryan will not have to reappear in Nigerian court because prosecutors dropped their case against him.
“Tigran Gambaryan’s release is necessary for him to receive urgent medical care outside Nigeria, given his worsening health condition,” Dele Oyewale, a government spokesman, said in an interview.
Mr. Gambaryan, a former U.S. law enforcement officer, was working for Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, when he was arrested in Nigeria in February. He was charged with money laundering and tax evasion, as part of a sweeping investigation into the company. In April, he was transferred to Nigeria’s notorious Kuje Prison from a government-owned guesthouse.
For months, prosecutors argued that Mr. Gambaryan should be held personally responsible for Binance’s activities in the country, which they said had contributed to an economic crisis. He applied for bail so he could seek medical treatment, but was twice denied.
Officials in the United States had been urging Nigeria to release him, and by last month the issue had become a significant source of conflict between the two allies. The Americans argued that Mr. Gambaryan, who had contracted malaria and double pneumonia and has a herniated disk, should be allowed to return home for medical care. Nigerian prosecutors and diplomats said the United States was interfering in their country’s judicial process.
Last week, Mr. Gambaryan did not appear at a scheduled court hearing, with officials saying he was too sick to attend. On Wednesday, the court reconvened for a hearing that was held without any public notice. Prosecutors withdrew the charges and the judge overseeing the case ordered Mr. Gambaryan’s release, according to a court employee, Ahmad Danyaro.
“Tigran Gambaryan was merely an employee of the cryptocurrency firm and had no involvement in the alleged offenses committed by the company,” R.U. Adaba, a lawyer for Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, said in an interview after the hearing.
Mr. Gambaryan is still in Nigeria waiting to be flown back to the United States. It is not yet clear when he will leave the country.
Representatives for Binance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
During his imprisonment, Mr. Gambaryan garnered the support of other former law enforcement officials, who called for his release in letters to the U.S. government and on social media. On Wednesday, Representative French Hill, an Arkansas Republican who has vocally supported Mr. Gambaryan, wrote on X that it was “fantastic” to see the charges dropped and that “It’s well past time he return home safely to America and his family and immediately receive any necessary medical treatment that he needs.”
Nigeria is in the throes of its worst economic crisis in a generation, and government officials have blamed the rise of cryptocurrencies. Mr. Gambaryan had traveled to the country to meet with local officials about Binance’s business dealings there.
Nigerian authorities said Binance had harmed the nation’s economy by allowing users to transfer funds out of the local currency, the naira, causing it to collapse. Their allegations against Binance came shortly after the company agreed to a $4.3 billion settlement with a group of U.S. regulators that had accused it of facilitating money laundering.
Nigerian prosecutors are still pursuing their case against Binance. They have accused the company of tax evasion and money laundering.
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