The wife of Tigran Gambaryan, the American Binance employee detained in Nigeria, released a new video statement on Monday pleading for his immediate release from prison.
“It has been six months since I last saw my husband, since our children last held their father’s hand,” Yuki Gambaryan said in the video. “His health is deteriorating to the point where he can no longer walk. Between bouts of malaria pneumonia and the unimaginable mental toll of his detention, he is now reaching the point of no return.”
Gambaryan, a former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agent and Binance’s current head of financial crime compliance, was detained in Abuja in February, shortly after voluntarily traveling to Nigeria’s capital city at the government’s invitation. At first, Gambaryan and another Binance executive, British-Kenyan national Nadeem Anjarwalla, were held under house arrest without explanation. But when Anjarwalla escaped in March, Gambaryan was transferred to the notoriously dangerous Kuje prison, where he has spent the last five months.
After being transferred to Kuje, Gambaryan was charged with tax evasion and money laundering – seemingly as a scapegoat for his employer, which Nigerian officials have accused, without evidence, of tanking the value of the naira. The tax evasion charges against Gambaryan were later dropped, but he is currently being prosecuted for money laundering in a trial that began in June, but was suspended in July after the judiciary went on vacation. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
In the harsh conditions of Kuje prison – which also holds members of the Boko Haram terrorist group – Gambaryan’s health has rapidly declined. In May, he collapsed in court due to malaria and in June was seen being pushed into court in a wheelchair. According to his family, complications from a herniated disc in his back has left him in excruciating pain and unable to walk. Gambaryan has also been prevented from accessing his lawyers, his family has said, and prison officials have refused to release his medical records or provide him with adequate health care despite a court order to do so.
Now, his wife says Gambaryan needs immediate medical treatment or “risks permanent damage.”
Gambaryan’s plight has attracted attention from some members of Congress, including Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Penn.) who visited Gambaryan in prison in June and called for his immediate humanitarian release. The same month, a group of lawmakers wrote to U.S. President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger D. Carstens urging them to treat Gambaryan’s case as a hostage situation and bring him back to the U.S.
So far, the U.S. Government has failed to make any public statement about Gambaryan’s situation. The State Department said it was “aware of reports” of his detention in March, but did not mention Gambaryan by name. A White House spokesperson referred CoinDesk to the State Department two months later, after multiple requests for comment.
“For six months, my life – my living nightmare – has been filed with pleas. Pleas to the Nigerian government. Pleas to the U.S. government. Pleas to the media. Pleas to anyone who will listen. I have been pleading for their mercy, for their understanding, for their humanity,” Yuki Gambaryan said in the video statement.
“Please help me bring my husband home.”
