The clamor for U.S. intervention in the suspected Nigerian kidnapping of a California-raised Binance crypto executive is escalating in a case wrought with irony.

A decade-long IRS special agent and more recently a Binance VP, Tigran Gambaryan is the last person one would expect to find lodged at Nigeria’s Kuje prison in the capital city Abuja. This is the kind of place where both Islamic State militants and Boko Haram fighters previously have done time, according to The New York Times on April 18. It has also seen its share of armed raids and mass breakouts. 

But Gambaryan is not a militant; his fight is against financial crime with a dedication that continues in his newer role as Binance VP of global intelligence and investigations. Even his wife Yuki in her change.org petition to the U.S. government notes the irony of his incarceration— a former IRS agent facing “bogus” charges of tax evasion. She questions Nigeria’s continued use of her husband as a bargaining chip, with his detention conditions raising concerns.

“Sadly, we can all see exactly what is happening, an innocent man is being used as a negotiating pawn by the Nigerian government. So far, no progress has been made in getting Tigran out of this nightmare,” Yuki said in the petition, emphasizing his “unjust detention.” “Tigran’s family and friends are pleading with the U.S. government to do more to have an innocent American citizen brought home.”

A 'remarkable father'

While the world might prize Gambaryan for his investigative skills, cracking cases now immortalized in Andy Greenberg’s “Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency,” Yuki highlights his role as a “remarkable father” for their young family with two children residing in Suwanee, Georgia. 

Like the petition crying out for help from the U.S. and Nigerian governments, The Digital Chamber published a March 15 blog entitled “Urgent Call to Action: American Citizen and Crypto Sector Worker Kidnapped by Nigerian Government.” In this blog post, The Digital Chamber does not stop short of calling Gambaryan’s detention a kidnapping, saying that he appears to have been invited to Nigeria under false pretenses only to be arrested on Feb. 26, despite a lack of charges.

“This incident demands a robust response from the United States. We call upon President Biden and the U.S. government to employ every diplomatic measure to ensure Mr. Gambaryan's immediate response,” said The Digital Chamber, calling it a matter of “national dignity” that unless settled, raises security concerns for American businesspeople in general. 

The Digital Chamber's post further suggests that Gambaryan may be a pawn in a power play to reap a $10 billion fine from Binance, and it brings out that Nigeria is a U.S. ally that receives more than $1 billion annually in foreign aid.

American legislators are also getting involved, as indicated in an April 29 Federal Newswire article, which reports Congressman Rich McCormick (GA-06) is looking to “resolve the situation quickly” on behalf of Gambaryan. That statement, issued by Julie Singleton, communications director, described McCormick as “working with the appropriate officials” but declined to give details.

Gambaryan's invite came from eventual captors

According to The New York Times, Gambaryan is currently charged with tax evasion and money laundering, along with his escaped colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla, and Binance itself. Again, the case is rife with irony, which The Digital Chamber points out. If this was in fact a “state-sponsored kidnapping,” as this blog alleges, the setup counted on his commitment to safeguarding crypto. Despite prior risks to his own security in Nigeria, Gambaryan accepted an invite from his eventual captors to work with them on cybercrime security training in connection with Binance. Packing just a small bag, he told his wife he planned to keep his stay short.

But, as Yuki explains, “Following a day of policy meetings, Tigran and his colleague were taken to his hotel told to pack their bags and taken to a secure compound controlled by the Nigerian government. Tigran’s passport was taken away, and he has been held ever since.” She said her husband does not receive regular visits from the U.S. Embassy. Neither has she received a response after almost 40 days from the majority of those the petition is aimed at, including the U.S. State Department and Nigerian officials.

High-profile cases

Gambaryan's celebrated record of service is emphasized in the call to action by his family and other concerned citizens. “Mr. Gambaryan has made notable contributions to the fight against cybercrime, including involvement in resolving high-profile cases such as Alpha Bay, the Welcome to Video child exploitation ring and the Silk Road cryptocurrency theft. His career, dedicated to upholding justice and security, starkly contrasts with the unfounded circumstances of his arrest,” according to The Digital Chamber.

These cases are spotlighted in the book, “Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency.” Among other crime operations, it describes two criminal marketplaces Gambaryan worked to combat: Silk Road, a conveyance for as much as $15 million in narcotics annually; and Alpha Bay, which marketed drugs, weapons and more to over 200,000 users.

Gambaryan’s own words, as a new hire for Binance in 2021, show the depth of his dedication to fighting financial crimes. The hope he expressed was to “educate the worldwide law-enforcement community on how Binance is a partner in the fight against the illicit use of cryptocurrency keeping the ecosystem more secure and moving it forward sustainably.”  

As her petition climbs toward its goal of 5,000 signatures, Yuki makes this appeal, “What has made this situation worse is that our government, the U.S. government has not made any progress to bring my husband home…Tigran is innocent.”