Winston Helps Secure Release of Binance Executive Imprisoned on Bogus Charges in Nigeria

A Winston team, led by New York partner Rich Weber, played an important role in convincing the Nigerian government to drop its baseless money laundering and tax evasion charges against Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan and release him from prison. Tigran was released on October 24, 2024, after eight months of imprisonment, and is back in the United States where he is receiving medical treatment for malaria and double pneumonia, which he contracted while in prison, as well as for complications from a herniated disk. 

Tigran, a compliance officer with Binance, a cryptocurrency firm, was arrested on trumped-up charges in February while on a business trip to Nigeria and was held in the notorious Kuje prison. Tigran was widely seen as a pawn in the Nigerian government’s efforts to punish Binance for not sharing more information about its customers’ identities and to extract concessions from the company. His release was the culmination of months of pressure from a wide array of stakeholders, including the State Department, members of the United States Congress, former law enforcement colleagues, and the Armenian Bar Association.

In August, Winston began providing legal counsel to the Armenian Bar Association, which was working to secure the release of Tigran—an Armenian-American. In addition, the Winston team lobbied members of the government and advocated on social media for Tigran’s release. Rich Weber also spoke about the issue at a webinar sponsored by the Coalition Against Financial Crime and appeared as a guest on the Illicit Edge podcast, which was shared within the Nigerian government.

Winston’s involvement in this matter was personal for Rich, who had worked with Tigran when Rich was Chief of Criminal Investigations for the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Tigran was a special agent.

In addition to Rich, the Winston team that helped secure Tigran’s release included Artem Bojadzian, Rebecca Dubow Carroll, Seth Farber, Seven Niazi, and Cari Stinebower.

Learn more about Winston’s commitment to excellence in serving the public interest.