Tigran Gambaryan, the Binance employee who Nigerian authorities have held for almost six months, may require urgent surgery to prevent him from losing the ability to walk, his family says. They claim his health has significantly worsened and that he has been prevented from meeting with his lawyers.
According to his relatives, a herniated disc in his back necessitates a highly specialised and risky surgical procedure to prevent permanent damage that could affect his ability to walk. The family has also indicated that Gambaryan requires surgery to remove his tonsils after contracting multiple pneumonia infections while in prison.
Gambaryan’s family also alleges that the Nigeria Correctional Service has withheld his medical records and has been blocked from seeing his lawyers since July 26.
The American is currently detained in a high-security prison over allegations of Binance’s involvement in money laundering, which the company denies. Binance insists that Gambaryan was not a decision-maker at the company and stated that his detention was unnecessary for the company to resolve issues with the Nigerian government
Gambaryan, 40, arrived in Nigeria in February for work and was arrested in March. He has been held in Kuje prison since April.
One charge of tax evasion was dropped in mid-June, but he is still being held on a money laundering charge. His trial court is on recess until September, and hearings will continue in October.
Nigerian officials were accused of extorting Binance, leading members of the US Congress to request intervention from President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Gambaryan’s case.
Two congressmen visited him in prison, and the US House of Representatives passed a resolution urging Nigeria to release him. Advocates highlighted his ten-year career at the US Internal Revenue Service as a mark of his professionalism.
Nigeria’s arrest of Gambaryan followed the government’s decision to adopt a tough stance on cryptocurrency, despite previously lifting a three-year ban intended to suppress trading.