Two members of the United States congress, French Hill, a representative of the Republican Party, and Chrissy Houlahan, a Democrat, have claimed that Binance’s executive, Tigran Gambaryan, who is an American, has malaria and double pneumonia in Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja, following their visit.
Hill revealed in a post on X , that they visited Gambaryan on June 19, while on a national security visit in Nigeria.
US lawmakers had earlier this month, accused the Nigerian government of taking the Binance executive, “hostage”, urging President Joe Biden to help secure his release.
In the post on the microblogging platform, Hill called for Gambaryan’s release.
“Yesterday, Houlahan and I visited with US citizen Tigran Gambaryan in Kuje Prison in Nigeria,” Hill said.
“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.
“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.
“Tigran has devoted his professional life to fighting money laundering and tax evasion, having spent ten years as an IRS Special Agent where he successfully led cyber and financial crime investigations.
“Further, at the time of his arrest, he was working as a contract employee at Binance and was instrumental in criminal investigations and compliance in cooperation with Nigerian authorities.”
Hill also said he had joined a letter with 16 other colleagues to President Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, US Secretary, and Roger Carstens, special presidential envoy, urging for Tigran’s immediate release.
“Two days later, over 100 former federal prosecutors and agents wrote to Blinken further urging StateDept to use all means available to secure his release,” he added.
“Tigran must be immediately granted a humanitarian release, the remaining charges dropped, and he must return home to America where he belongs.”
