Tigran Gambaryan is an American hero. He served his country as an IRS special agent for a decade, using his cutting-edge cyber skills to help bring down online criminal gangs. In private practice at Binance he continued to work with law enforcement and other crypto firms to track and report terrorists. Since February, he has been languishing in prison in Nigeria, where he arrived as an emissary for Binance, but then was snatched on spurious grounds by government officials.
The situation has been an ordeal for Gambaryan, who has contracted malaria and pneumonia, and for his wife and small children at home in Georgia. The outrageous situation has flown largely below the radar, but that began to change last week as U.S. lawmakers French Hill (R-Ark.) and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) visited Gambaryan in Nigeria's Kuje prison, which also houses members of the notorious Boko Haram terrorist group.
The visit came after a bipartisan group of 16 U.S. lawmakers this month sent a letter urging for Gambaryan's release to President Joe Biden, which led over 100 U.S. prosecutors and special agents to send a similar missive to the State Department. Meanwhile, the Nigerian government offered a concession of sorts by dropping tax evasion charges against Gambaryan following a rare visit to the country by FBI Director Christopher Wray. The purpose of the visit was to address broader regional concerns, and Wray did not publicly speak about Gambaryan's plight, but the timing of the concession suggests the issue came up.
Meanwhile, Nigerian media has recently criticized the government for continuing to detain Gambaryan on separate money laundering charges. On the podcast Nigeria Politics Weekly, commentators described Gambaryan as a scapegoat for the country's economic mismanagement, and said there is evidence other corporate officials have begun to avoid Nigeria out of fear of "state-sanctioned kidnapping."
It's a good bet that all of this had led Nigeria's government to regret its unjustified decision to snatch Gambaryan. The thing to watch now is whether the Biden administration chooses to keep the heat on Nigerian authorities—a choice it previously avoided, presumably because Gambaryan's current employer, Binance, has a history of playing it fast and loose with U.S. laws. That's a fair concern but, in the case of Gambaryan, he is a former U.S. law enforcement agent. The country he served should not forsake him in his time of need.
Speaking of Americans wrongfully detained abroad, Russia is set to try Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich behind closed doors on trumped-up espionage charges. Please give both Gambaryan and Gershkovich a thought as you enjoy your freedom today.
Jeff John Roberts
jeff.roberts@fortune.com
@jeffjohnroberts
