President Bola Tinubu-led government, on Wednesday withdrew the money laundering charges filed against an executive of Binance Holdings Limited, Tigran Gambaryan.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in April arraigned Binance, a cryptocurrency firm, and Gambaryan, on allegations of money laundering.
Gambaryan has been in detention since February following the clampdown on the cryptocurrency firm over alleged manipulation of the Nigerian currency.
A lawyer representing EFCC announced the withdrawal of the charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja Wednesday morning.
The hearing, coming two days before the 25 October earlier scheduled as the return date by the trial judge in the open court last Friday, appeared to have been intentionally held to avoid public attention as much as possible.
Announcing the withdrawal of the charges, the lawyer said Gambaryan, a United States citizen, was merely an employee of Binance, whose activities he was being prosecuted for.
Mark Mordi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) representing Gambaryan, agreed with the prosecution, saying that his client was not involved in the company’s broader financial decisions.