Binance calls again for Tigran Gambaryan’s release

Binance chief, Richard Teng, highlighted the “dire” state of detained Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan, pressure is growing on the Nigerian government to release him.

Teng said in a blog post this week that Gambaryan’s condition has “deteriorated rapidly” as he approaches his six-month detention mark as the head of compliance for cryptocurrency exchanges. Before his trial on September 2 on money laundering charges that appear to be connected to his employment at the digital asset exchange, Teng states that Gambaryan is currently “unable to walk due to a herniated disc” and is in “severe pain.”.

The CEO of Binance claims that despite the upcoming legal battle, Gambaryan has not been allowed to see his attorney a representative at the U.S. consulate. Despite being under a court order to do so, the Nigerian government reportedly withheld the release of Gambaryan’s medical records for several months.

“I appeal once again for the Nigerian government to allow Tigran to return home to his family on humanitarian grounds so that he can seek the appropriate medical treatment in the US, recover, and get back to the healthy, active life he previously had,” Teng said. “I am deeply concerned about the long-term, potentially irreversible physical and mental impact this horrific episode is having on Tigran.”.

Along with Nadeem Anjarwalla, another Binance employee, Gambaryan was arrested in Nigeria in late February for allegedly breaking local financial laws. However, the veracity of Nigeria’s claims regarding digital asset employees is still up for debate.

The two were supposedly promised “safe passage” when they arrived in the nation for a series of discussions with government officials about crypto policy. The crypto worker’s health rapidly deteriorated after his unexpected arrest.

In June, Gambaryan was diagnosed with double pneumonia and malaria when lawmakers French Hill (R-LA) and Cynthia Houlahan visited him.