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Sunday, September 8, 2024
Imagine investigating crypto criminals for a living, only to find yourself detained in Nigeria after accepting an invitation for a compliance meeting.
This is the reality for Tigran Gambaryan, where a business trip took an unexpected turn.
In crypto's Wild West, where innovation outruns regulation, tracing on-chain crime was a game-changer.
Now, in a twist fit for Netflix, one of the OGs who cracked that code is behind bars, accused of the very crimes he once hunted.
Meet Tigran Gambaryan, an ex-special agent whose name once struck fear into the hearts of cyber criminals, drug dealers, human traffickers and money launderers.
This guy's rap sheet of busts, immortalized in "Tracers in the Dark," reads like a greatest hits of crypto crime takedowns.
Now? He's rotting in a Nigerian cell, a hostage in all but name, possibly being used as leverage against his employer, Binance.
Picture this: a man who once hunted down the darkest corners of the web, now crying out in pain, begging for a wheelchair as he's forced to drag himself into court on a single crutch.
"This is fucked up!" he shouts, while Nigerian guards stand by, ordered not to help. It's a scene so disturbing that it makes a rugpull look like a gentle caress.
How did a man once hailed as a guardian of digital finance become ensnared in a web of false accusations?
And why, as voices around the world call for his release, does Nigeria stand firm in its baseless claims?
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We are all rekt.