(Bloomberg) -- A US employee of cryptocurrency giant Binance Holdings Ltd. detained in Nigeria since February has been freed and is flying home.
Charges against Tigran Gambaryan, head of financial crime compliance at Binance, were dropped by the Nigerian authorities on Wednesday. On Thursday, US officials confirmed that he had been freed and was on board a US-bound plane following negotiations between the two governments.
“As soon as we secured Mr. Gambaryan’s release, I called his wife Yuki to share this good news,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement. “I am grateful to my Nigerian colleagues and partners for the productive discussions that have resulted in this step.”
Gambaryan was released on humanitarian grounds after his health deteriorated while in jail. The former US Internal Revenue Service agent had been held in the Kuje correctional center in the capital, Abuja, since early April.
He was standing trial on allegations of money laundering and currency manipulation. Binance also faces charges and the trial against the company will continue, according to a senior US administration official.
The faceoff between Africa’s most-populous nation and the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange burst into public view in February, when Nigerian authorities detained Gambaryan and a colleague – who subsequently managed to escape – during a visit to Nigeria.
Binance took to social media to advocate for his release, arguing that his visit to Nigeria wasn’t as a decision maker for the company. It also upped the stakes when Chief Executive Officer Richard Teng claimed in a blog that its team was asked for a “secret” payment to make its problems go away while they were in Abuja in January.
Nigeria rejects the allegation, which it called a tactic to divert attention away from Binance’s activities.
Behind the scenes, US officials were also working to win his freedom with Secretary of State Antony Blinken involved, the official said, adding that Binance was not part of those talks.
“The past eight months have been a living nightmare,” his wife Yuki Gambaryan said in a separate statement. “I feared this day would never come, but Tigran’s supporters gave me hope and strength.”
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