Andrew Adams, a partner at the New York office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP and a former acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ), said if the DOJ stops sharing forfeited funds with Nigeria, it can express its "objection to Nigeria’s abuse of its police power" and encourage the release of Tigran Gambaryan, a former U.S. federal agent who has been detained by the Nigerian government since February 26. Adams shared his statement in a May 29 opinion piece.
"The United States has, however, a well-tailored tool at its disposal for signaling its objection to Nigeria's abuse of its police power, while revoking significant funds that otherwise might go toward the very authorities now engaged in that abuse," said Adams. "In response to the patently unjustified charges against Gambaryan, the United States should immediately cease the transfer of forfeited funds to Nigeria under the Department of Justice's 'international sharing' program."
According to The Guardian, Nigerian authorities detained Gambaryan in February after inviting him to Abuja for policy meetings. Nigerian officials accused Binance, Gambaryan's employer, of manipulating the naira's exchange rate after hundreds of thousands of Nigerian citizens turned to cryptocurrency to protect their funds from the naira's volatility. Nigerian authorities have charged Gambaryan with tax evasion and money laundering, to which he pleaded not guilty.
Adams said the charges Gambaryan is facing are "entirely divorced" from his conduct. He added that the public response from the U.S. government to Gambaryan's detention has been "lacking," but acknowledged that official responses are "complex" because the U.S. government must consider various implications. For example, Adams said that if the U.S. publicly stated Nigeria has "wrongfully detained" a U.S. citizen, federal statutes and regulations would point towards issuing sanctions, which could be ineffective or restrict negotiating space. However, Adams suggested ceasing the transfer of forfeited funds to Nigeria through the DOJ's "international sharing" program as an effective tool.
The forfeited funds are a result of international collaboration between the U.S. and other nations on investigations pertaining to cybersecurity, anti-terrorism, and cross-border money laundering, according to Adams' opinion piece. The discretionary "sharing" of forfeited property resulting from those operations serves as a means of fostering international cooperation. In 2020, the DOJ transferred more than $310 million to Nigeria through this sharing program. The DOJ, Treasury Department, and State Department all have authority to stop these transfers.
"They should do so here when the purpose of the program – to incentivize foreign partners to uphold the rule of law through cooperation with U.S. enforcement efforts – is frustrated through transparently arbitrary, lawless prosecutions," Adams said.
According to CoinGape, Gambaryan collapsed during recent court proceedings and is now reportedly suffering from malaria and a severe throat infection. Justice Emeka Nwite ordered for Gambaryan to be moved from Kuje Prison to a hospital for treatment; however, he has not been moved yet. Yuki Gambaryan said she is "devastated and shocked that despite the court’s clear directive for his admission to a hospital, the authorities have not allowed him to leave the very prison causing his illness."
Adams' practice area includes anti-money laundering compliance, U.S. economic countermeasures, and national security crisis response according to Steptoe's website. He previously served as inaugural Director of the DOJ's Task Force KleptoCapture and as acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division of the DOJ. He was also co-chief of the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York's Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit.