The world's largest crypto exchange, Binance, has published an official statement in support of its own senior employee, who was detained by Nigerian authorities five weeks ago on charges of facilitating tax crimes.

Tigran Gambaryan, a former US law enforcement officer, has investigated cases involving national security, terrorist financing, identity theft, child pornography, tax evasion and violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. In particular, he investigated the case of the largest Russian-language crypto exchange BTC-e.

In 2021, Binance hired Tigran Gambaryan “to provide practical assistance in resolving issues of compliance of the exchange’s financial practices with the norms and rules of international regulatory authorities.” The employee's functions were limited to interaction with law enforcement agencies of various countries, and he did not have the authority to make any sole decisions in the company.

“Although Gambarian has left official service with the US Government, he remains fully committed to his role as a law enforcement officer, serving as a global advocate for transparent financial regulatory practices. Binance requests that Tigran Gambaryan not be held accountable, since he did not have the authority to make decisions in the company,” Binance said in an official public appeal to the Nigerian authorities.

Earlier it became known that Tigran Ghambaryan filed a claim for violation of his rights against Nigeria's National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribad and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).