Charges against Binance cryptocurrency boss dropped

Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency has dropped a money laundering case against a top cryptocurrency executive to allow him to get medical treatment abroad. Tigran Gambaryan, a US citizen, was arrested on a business trip to Nigeria in February and later charged alongside his company Binance with laundering $35.4m – which they denied. BBC News reports that he is in charge of financial crime compliance at Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange that Nigeria blames for much of its recent economic turmoil. It accused the digital platform – where investors can buy, sell and trade cryptocurrencies – of fixing exchange rates and currency speculation leading to the free-fall of the local currency. Gambaryan’s family has been calling for his release over concerns about his health, saying conditions at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja where he had been held since April were exacerbating a back problem. A High Court judge has twice denied him bail, saying he was a potential flight risk. This followed the escape from custody of his colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla, a UK-Kenyan dual national who was Binance’s Africa regional manager. He was arrested alongside Gambaryan in February but fled the country within weeks of the pair being put under house arrest.