The CEO of Binance, Richard Teng, has lashed out in fury towards the Nigerian government as it continued to detain Tigran Gambaryan, a former U.S. federal agent and an employee of Binance. Gambaryan has been held in Nigeria for six months, with continued failing health due to lack of medical care and legal representation.
According to the blog post, Teng’s declaration indicates the high physical and mental stress on Gambaryan, who is reported to be in the state of having a herniated disc that has made him unable to walk.
He is in critical condition, and yet the Nigerian authorities have not provided him with the medical services that are essential to him, such as a wheelchair, and have not allowed him to seek legal counsel before the trial that is scheduled to begin on September 2.
Moreover, a Nigerian court ordered the release of Gambaryan’s medical records, but compliance was delayed for months. This week, the situation was compounded as Gambaryan was refused access to a U.S. consulate representative, which further increased the worries about his health.
Binance Calls for U.S. Government Intervention
Binance has called on the U.S. government to intervene and apply political pressure to secure Gambaryan’s release. Teng expressed deep concern for the irreversible damage that continued detention could cause to Gambaryan’s health and urged for a humanitarian resolution that would allow him to return to the U.S. for proper treatment and recovery.
The Nigerian government has justified Gambaryan’s continued detention with the allegations that Binance, being a primarily virtual corporate entity, is a scapegoat for human rights violations.
The prosecution’s counsel argued that Gambaryan should be denied bail due to concerns over him being a flight risk. Binance refutes this claim, claiming it is baseless. The company relies on the fact that it has settled regulatory matters in several countries, including the U.S., Thailand, Brazil, and India, without resorting to punitive measures against its employees.
Teng urges the U.S. government to officially regard Gambaryan as unlawfully detained and use its influence to get him released. He asks international observers to raise their voices and make the Nigerian authorities address what he considers an unfair and harmful situation.
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