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Tigran Gambaryan

👤 Person
126 total appearances

Appearances Over Time

Podcast Appearances

Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria

Tigran was expecting the Nigerian prosecutors to at least have gone through the motions of building a case against him. But instead, what they had tying Tigran to these alleged crimes was a single sheet of paper, a photocopy of his business card. And that, that was the moment, it seems, that Tigran's case really changed for the U.S. government.

Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria

Tigran was expecting the Nigerian prosecutors to at least have gone through the motions of building a case against him. But instead, what they had tying Tigran to these alleged crimes was a single sheet of paper, a photocopy of his business card. And that, that was the moment, it seems, that Tigran's case really changed for the U.S. government.

Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria

The U.S. strategy to get Tigran out was, it seems, pretty simple. A full-court diplomatic press. For months, U.S. officials were told to bring up Tigran at the beginning of every meeting they had with Nigerian officials, with the foreign minister, the finance minister, the national security advisor, but also the minister of culture, the minister of sports.

Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria

The U.S. strategy to get Tigran out was, it seems, pretty simple. A full-court diplomatic press. For months, U.S. officials were told to bring up Tigran at the beginning of every meeting they had with Nigerian officials, with the foreign minister, the finance minister, the national security advisor, but also the minister of culture, the minister of sports.

Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria

The U.S. strategy to get Tigran out was, it seems, pretty simple. A full-court diplomatic press. For months, U.S. officials were told to bring up Tigran at the beginning of every meeting they had with Nigerian officials, with the foreign minister, the finance minister, the national security advisor, but also the minister of culture, the minister of sports.

Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria

And this strategy went all the way to the top, all the way to then-President Joe Biden.

Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria

And this strategy went all the way to the top, all the way to then-President Joe Biden.

Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria

And this strategy went all the way to the top, all the way to then-President Joe Biden.

Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria

Tigran's health, meanwhile, continued to deteriorate. And eventually, the pressure, maybe the embarrassment, became too much. The Nigerian government announced they were going to release Tigran on humanitarian grounds. They said they were just releasing him so that he could get medical care. Binance set a private plane to pick up Tigran. They flew him to Rome.

Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria

Tigran's health, meanwhile, continued to deteriorate. And eventually, the pressure, maybe the embarrassment, became too much. The Nigerian government announced they were going to release Tigran on humanitarian grounds. They said they were just releasing him so that he could get medical care. Binance set a private plane to pick up Tigran. They flew him to Rome.

Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria

Tigran's health, meanwhile, continued to deteriorate. And eventually, the pressure, maybe the embarrassment, became too much. The Nigerian government announced they were going to release Tigran on humanitarian grounds. They said they were just releasing him so that he could get medical care. Binance set a private plane to pick up Tigran. They flew him to Rome.

Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria

And then he took a commercial flight back to the U.S., All told, he spent about eight months in detention. He's still recovering from the medical issues related to getting malaria. And he still works at Binance. By the way, we did reach out to Binance for this story, and they did not respond to our questions about Tigran.

Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria

And then he took a commercial flight back to the U.S., All told, he spent about eight months in detention. He's still recovering from the medical issues related to getting malaria. And he still works at Binance. By the way, we did reach out to Binance for this story, and they did not respond to our questions about Tigran.

Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria

And then he took a commercial flight back to the U.S., All told, he spent about eight months in detention. He's still recovering from the medical issues related to getting malaria. And he still works at Binance. By the way, we did reach out to Binance for this story, and they did not respond to our questions about Tigran.

Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria

By the way, Tigran and Nadim haven't spoken since Nadim escaped. We did reach out to Nadim. He didn't get back to us. But as for what happened to him, Tigran suspects that he hopped the guesthouse wall, got an Uber to the airport, and caught the first flight out. He had a second passport.

Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria

By the way, Tigran and Nadim haven't spoken since Nadim escaped. We did reach out to Nadim. He didn't get back to us. But as for what happened to him, Tigran suspects that he hopped the guesthouse wall, got an Uber to the airport, and caught the first flight out. He had a second passport.

Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria

By the way, Tigran and Nadim haven't spoken since Nadim escaped. We did reach out to Nadim. He didn't get back to us. But as for what happened to him, Tigran suspects that he hopped the guesthouse wall, got an Uber to the airport, and caught the first flight out. He had a second passport.

Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria

When I said that Dina is a legend, I meant it. We worked in the same office for a few years, and I learned so much from her by osmosis, by watching how she reports. And I'll admit it now to you, Dina, by eavesdropping on your phone conversation. If you want to hear more stories like this one, you can check out Dina's show. It's called Click Here. It comes from Recorded Future News.

Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria

When I said that Dina is a legend, I meant it. We worked in the same office for a few years, and I learned so much from her by osmosis, by watching how she reports. And I'll admit it now to you, Dina, by eavesdropping on your phone conversation. If you want to hear more stories like this one, you can check out Dina's show. It's called Click Here. It comes from Recorded Future News.

Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria

When I said that Dina is a legend, I meant it. We worked in the same office for a few years, and I learned so much from her by osmosis, by watching how she reports. And I'll admit it now to you, Dina, by eavesdropping on your phone conversation. If you want to hear more stories like this one, you can check out Dina's show. It's called Click Here. It comes from Recorded Future News.