According to local reports, 2 U.S. Congressmen have submitted a resolution to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs to ask for the release of Head of Financial Crime Compliance at Binance, Tigran Gambaryan.
According to the lawmakers, Rep. French Hill from Arizona and Rep. Rich McCormick of Georgia, the U.S. government should consider Gambaryan as someone who is being detained in Nigeria as a hostage.
Calling Gambaryan’s detention ‘a clear violation of his rights and a grave injustice,’ McCormick urged the Nigerian government to release him, and called on the U.S. government to ‘do everything in its power to secure the release of one of our citizens wrongfully detained abroad.’
Gambaryan is in custody due to money laundering charges from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Earlier in June 2024, the Nigeria Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) withdrew the tax evasion charges against him and his colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla who fled the country in March 2024.
🇳🇬REGULATION | Nigerian Revenue Service Withdraws Tax Evasion Charges Against Binance Officials
Following this, Binance which allegedly had an untaxed turnover of over $20 billion in Nigeria in 2023 alone, according to Nigeria Minister of Information, Idris Mohammed, will be… pic.twitter.com/XqvRrMgo16
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) June 15, 2024
Representative Hill, who visited Gambaryan in the Nigerian prison where he is being held, said that his health is ‘deteriorating’ in custody, while McCormick urged the Nigerian authorities to provide Gambaryan with ‘the necessary medical care.’
During a court hearing in May 2024, Gambaryan reportedly collapsed and was subsequently prescribed medication for malaria. Moreover, his family claims he has been ‘suffering immensely’ while detained in Kuje prison, reporting symptoms such as numbness in his foot, back pain, and diagnoses of double pneumonia and malaria.
In reacting to the resolution by the representatives, Gambaryan’s wife also joined the calls for her husband to be released
“I just want him home so he can get the proper medical care he desperately needs and so that he can heal,” Mrs Gambaryan said, adding, “He needs to be freed right now.”
Meanwhile, a Federal High Court sitting in Nigeria declared that it will begin the tax evasion trial against Binance on October 11 2024. This follows a fresh application by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) which lists Binance as the sole defendant in the case.
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