After being arrested and freed in Nigeria, Tigran Gambaryan, who was once praised for combating cybercrime, splits from Binance.

Tigran Gambaryan, the head of financial crime compliance at Binance Holdings Ltd., is departing the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. Gambaryan was arrested in Nigeria for almost eight months last year.

After Gambaryan's health worsened while he was incarcerated, he was freed in October on humanitarian grounds. While going to Nigeria on behalf of Binance, the former US Internal Revenue Service agent—who joined Binance in 2021—was detained on suspicion of money laundering and currency manipulation. Gambaryan's accusations were withdrawn by the Nigerian government.

In a message to Bloomberg News, Gambaryan said that Friday is his last day.

As with his prior law enforcement positions, Tigran has left a lasting impression on Binance, according to a statement from a Binance representative. They are really appreciative of his commitment to changing their financial crime compliance department. Everyone is safer in the crypto business because of his unwavering efforts.

In a blog post, Richard Teng, the CEO of Binance, stated that the company was requested to make a "secret" payment in order to solve its issues. Nigeria denied the bribery accusation.

Gambaryan's expertise in tracking down illegal cryptocurrency transactions earned him the moniker "Crypto Wizard" while he was employed by the US government. At a time when the biggest cryptocurrency exchange was facing more regulatory pressure globally, his work at Binance was primarily focused on helping the company enhance its anti-money laundering procedures and support international law enforcement in significant asset seizures.

Last week, the US Securities and Exchange Commission submitted a motion to end its investigation into Binance. On May 29, Changpeng Zhao, the exchange's co-founder, and the regulator jointly filed a motion in the US District Court for the District of Columbia to halt the lawsuit.