One hundred and eight former federal agents and prosecutors are urging the State Department to "step up its efforts" in securing the release of Tigran Gambaryan, a former federal agent who has been detained by the Nigerian government since February 26. The former agents and prosecutors shared their statement in a June 6 letter addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
According to the letter, some of the former federal employees worked alongside Gambaryan during his ten-year tenure as a Special Agent for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). During his career with the IRS, Gambaryan investigated prominent cases for the federal government pertaining to national security, terror financing, identity thefts, and other crimes. After joining Binance in 2021, Gambaryan worked closely with global law enforcement agencies to support their investigations. In January 2024, Gambaryan traveled to Nigeria to discuss financial compliance. During that visit, Nigerian officials approached him and "suggested that a substantial payment would resolve alleged compliance concerns about Binance." He then left Nigeria due to safety concerns.
In February, Nigerian officials invited Gambaryan to return and guaranteed his safety. However, upon his return, he was detained. "After being held for almost a month without charges filed, Tigran is now being held on false charges related to money laundering and tax evasion," the former agents said in the letter. They added: "He is completely innocent of these charges and, as a mid-tier employee at Binance, does not hold a role that makes him an appropriate stand-in for the company." The letter described Gambaryan's "captivity" in Kuje Prison as "not only unjust but inhumane." His health is reportedly deteriorating; on May 23, he collapsed in court and is suffering from malaria. Despite a court order for his transfer to a hospital, Nigerian officials have refused to comply.
"In short," according to the letter, "a former U.S. federal agent has been effectively held hostage in deplorable conditions for nearly three months by a foreign power in an apparent attempt to compel his employer to settle a matter that does not implicate him." The former agents and prosecutors called on Blinken to "leverage the full power of U.S. diplomacy to do the just thing by demanding and securing Tigran's immediate release back to his family and the country he has so honorably served."
Individuals who signed the letter include David Aaron, a cybersecurity and national security attorney and former prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ); Allen Applbaum, an attorney and former DOJ federal prosecutor; Kareem Carter, an IRS Special Agent; Mark Ehlers, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington DC and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; Ryan Fayhee, an attorney and former National Security Division official for the DOJ; Jane Khodarkovsky, an attorney and former Human Trafficking Finance Specialist with the DOJ’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section; and Walter Woosley, a financial analyst and former IRS Special Agent.
For ten years, Gambaryan was a U.S. federal agent who investigated cases related to "national security, terrorism financing, identity thefts," among other crimes, according to Binance's website. Binance hired him in 2021 to help fix historical compliance issues. In 2022 and 2023 alone, his team assisted law enforcement agencies around the world in freezing and seizing more than $2.2 billion worth of assets.
