According to a document shared by Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett, several American political figures, including Chairman Michael McCaul of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, have written to President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken, and Hostage Affairs Special Envoy Carstens requesting the transfer of the case of Tigran Gambaryan, the compliance chief of Binance, detained by the Nigerian government, to the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs to ensure his safety.
Tigran Gambaryan and Binance’s regional manager for Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were invited by the Nigerian government in February of this year to attend a high-level meeting regarding compliance issues with Binance in the country. However, the government later accused the exchange of destabilizing the country’s currency and detained the two senior Binance officials.
In a letter issued on Tuesday, 12 American political figures pointed out that Gambaryan is accused of multiple “baseless” crimes, including money laundering and tax evasion, which they believe are part of Nigeria’s authorities extorting Binance. The letter also mentioned that Gambaryan tested positive for malaria, and as of June 4th, court orders to transfer him to a private hospital for treatment have not been fully complied with by the prison authorities, nor ensured that Gambaryan receives proper medical care.
These political figures emphasize that Gambaryan remains “illegally detained” by the Nigerian government and must be acted upon immediately before the situation deteriorates. The letter states:
Prior to joining Binance, Gambaryan was a federal agent in the United States and worked at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for over ten years. According to reports, the Nigerian court is scheduled to conduct cross-examination and trial on June 20th and 21st in his case.
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