Binance Defends “Preeminent Cyber Investigator” Who Trained EFCC, Recovered $400,000 For Nigeria

• Tigran Gambaryan Trained 70 EFCC Operatives, Helped Recover $400,000 for Nigeria

• Former U.S. Federal Agent, Described as “Preeminent Cyber Crimes Investigator”

• Binance Asserts Gambaryan’s Compliance Efforts, Cooperation with Global Law Enforcement

Eko Hot Blog reports that Binance, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, has come to the defense of one of its detained executives, Tigran Gambaryan, asserting that the American citizen, described as a “preeminent cyber crimes investigator,” has been instrumental in anti-money laundering and global terrorism financing measures, particularly in Nigeria, where he trained 70 operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and helped the country recover $400,000.

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In a statement released on Wednesday, the platform highlighted Gambaryan’s extensive contributions, including his work with the EFCC and helping Nigeria recover funds.

Ahead of Gambaryan’s court appearance on Thursday, Binance emphasized that he does not deserve his current predicament at the hands of the Nigerian government and demanded his immediate release, stressing that his freedom should not be abridged amid the ongoing dispute with the Nigerian authorities.

The statement reads: “Tigran Gambaryan, an American citizen, is known globally as someone fully dedicated to law enforcement.”

“For a decade, he served as a U.S. federal agent investigating cases involving national security, terrorism financing, identity theft, distribution of child pornography, tax evasion, and bank secrecy act violations.”

Binance further detailed Gambaryan’s illustrious career, stating, “As part of the elite cyber investigations team in the U.S. Treasury Department’s IRS Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) unit, Tigran led several multi-billion dollar investigations, including the Silk Road corruption investigations, BTC-e bitcoin exchange, and the Mt. Gox hack.”

The statement also highlighted Gambaryan’s pivotal role in probing high-profile cases such as Alphabay, Wall Street Marketplace, Welcome2Video, and the “VIP” Twitter hack, working alongside the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the United States Secret Service.

Binance emphasized Gambaryan’s reputation as “the world’s preeminent cyber crimes investigator,” noting that a book, “Tracer’s in the Dark,” was written about his efforts to bring down some of history’s most notorious cyber criminals.

“Given this background, Tigran was hired in 2021 to help Binance fix past compliance issues. As the head of Binance’s Financial Crime Compliance (FCC) team, he has been a strong advocate for Binance to develop policies and build compliance capabilities that set new industry standards,” the statement read.

Binance further asserted that Gambaryan’s Financial Crime Compliance team assisted global law enforcement in freezing and seizing more than $2.2 billion worth of assets in 2022 and 2023, including over $285 million in cooperation with United States agencies like the FBI, DOJ, DEA, and others.

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“Binance respectfully requests that Tigran Gambaryan, who has no decision-making power in the company, is not held responsible while current discussions are ongoing between Binance and Nigerian government officials,” the statement concluded.

As the legal proceedings unfold, Binance’s defense of Gambaryan’s credentials and demand for his immediate release have escalated the tension surrounding the ongoing dispute with Nigerian authorities.

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