President Bola Tinubu reportedly agreed to release Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan as part of a deal to facilitate a meeting with former U.S. President Joe Biden, according to a report by U.S.-based bi-monthly magazine Wired.
The report, titled “The Untold Story of a Crypto Crimefighter’s Descent Into Nigerian Prison,” describes Gambaryan as a former U.S. federal agent instrumental in modern crypto investigations before joining Binance.
The report claims that Nigeria sought a public statement from Biden thanking Tinubu as part of the conditions for Gambaryan’s release.
“The statement of thanks, I later learned, was part of the deal the U.S. government struck with Nigeria, which also included aiding in its investigation of Binance—which is still ongoing,” Wired quoted Gambaryan as saying.
Additionally, the report revealed that former White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan personally appealed to Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, for Gambaryan’s release during a phone call.
“Around the same time, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan had a phone call with his Nigerian counterpart, Nuhu Ribadu, in which he essentially asked that Gambaryan be freed, according to multiple sources involved in pushing for Gambaryan’s release,” Wired reported.
According to Wired, “Perhaps most impactful of all, several supporters say, they learned that US officials had made clear that Gambaryan’s case was going to present an obstacle to any meeting between President Biden and Nigeria’s President Tinubu at the UN General Assembly or elsewhere, a notion that deeply troubled the Nigerians.”
