Two U.S. lawmakers have called for the release of the detained Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan noting that he is suffering from malaria and pneumonia, and has been denied access to medical attention.
Reps. French Hill, R-Ark., and Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., said they visited Gambaryan this week. Gambaryan, who qualifies as a U.S. citizen, was detained in February 2024 and is facing money laundering charges from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“Yesterday, @RepHoulahan and I visited with US citizen Tigran Gambaryan in Kuje Prison in Nigeria,” Hill posted on X.
“We found him suffering from the conditions there, as he has malaria and double pneumonia, and he reports that he has lost significant weight. Even worse, he’s being denied access to adequate medical attention.”
According to Hill, Gambaryan has been a U.S. government official having spent 10 years as an Internal Revenue Service Special Agent and has focused on combatting money laundering and tax evasion.
“Tigran must be immediately granted a humanitarian release, the remaining charges dropped, and he must return home to America where he belongs,” Hill said.
Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla were formally charged with tax evasion in March 2024 after the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) claimed they failed to pay taxes on cryptocurrency transactions worth billions of Naira. The crypto exchange was accused of not paying value-added tax and corporate tax, as well as failing to file tax returns.
While the Nigeria Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has withdrawn the tax evasion charges against Gambaryan and his colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, they still face money laundering charges from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“Although I am pleased that Nigeria dropped tax evasion charges against Tigran on 6/14, it’s my view that he’s being wrongfully detained on charges related to money laundering,” Hill noted.
Earlier in June 2024, Hill was among 16 U.S. lawmakers who termed the charges baseless, through a signed a letter to their President.
“The charges against Mr. Gambaryan are baseless and constitute a coercion tactic by the Nigerian government to extort his employer, Binance,” the lawmakers wrote in a June 4 2024 letter to Biden pointing out that Mr. Gambaryan qualifies, a U.S. Citizen, was “wrongfully detained by a foreign government.”
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