Nigeria drops money laundering charges against Binance Executive Gambaryan

The Nigerian government has dropped all charges against Tigran Gambaryan, an executive of Binance Holdings. He has been on trial since April for money laundering worth $34.4 million.

A lawyer representing Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency EFCC, which is prosecuting the case, has announced the withdrawal of charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The hearing will take place two days earlier than the October 25 date previously scheduled as a return date by Judge Emeka Nwite last Friday.

Announcing the charges being dropped, the lawyer said that Mr Gambaryan, a US citizen, was merely an employee of Binance, for whose activities he was being prosecuted.

Mark Mordi, a senior Nigeria lawyer representing Mr Gambaryan, agreed with the prosecutor, noting that his client was not involved in the company’s broader financial decisions.

This final outcome of the trial is most likely the culmination of the alleged diplomatic lobbying by the US government to secure Gambaryan’s release. Gambaryan attended a court hearing from the Kuje Correctional Center in Abuja, where his legal team had raised concerns about the very poor conditions.

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