Biden thanks Nigerian president after Binance Exec is released from prison

US President Joe Biden thanked his Nigerian counterpart Bola Tinubu for playing a crucial role in securing the release of a Binance employee who was imprisoned in the African country until days ago, during a call between world leaders on Tuesday.

Biden called Tinubu’s leadership essential to securing the release of Tigran Gambaryan from Nigerian custody on humanitarian grounds, according to a report statement from the White House, outlining the key themes of the call.

Last week it was Gambaryan issued from a prison in the Nigerian capital Abuja, after more than eight months of incarceration. The Binance executive, a U.S. citizen living outside Atlanta, was initially arrested in February after flying to Nigeria to negotiate with local authorities over an impending cryptocurrency crackdown.

Gambaryan was soon charged with money laundering and facilitating the operation of an unlicensed financial institution. In the following months, his health reportedly deteriorated significantly. Gambaryan’s family said that while in prison he suffered from a hernia, malaria and recurring throat infections. The Nigerian government repeatedly refuted these claims, and emphasized that the American crypto manager was doing ‘fine’.

Finally, after months of slowly escalating diplomatic appeals from several members of Congress – two of whom flew to Nigeria to visit Gambaryan in jail – Nigerian prosecutors abruptly dropped their charges against the Binance employee last week. A day later, he flew At home.

The same day Gambaryan’s release was secured, the U.S. State Department announced announced it would establish, in partnership with the government of Nigeria, a bilateral liaison group on illicit finance and cryptocurrencies.

On Tuesday, during his phone call with President Tinubu, Biden reportedly expressed his appreciation for Nigeria’s willingness to cooperate on law enforcement initiatives, including the new crypto task force.

Edited by Andrew Hayward