After more than 207 days, Tigran Gambaryan, Binance’s Head of Financial Crime Compliance, is slowly deteriorating after the government of Nigeria imprisoned him with no formal accusations or trial.
His mother in an interview on KMPH Fox26 News, pleaded asking the U.S government to intervene. He’s innocent, that’s all. But I can ask and I’m begging everybody who can help my son. Just please bring my son home. That’s all what we need,” said Gambaryan. “Just take me, exchange me with my son just let my son go home! I don’t care what will happen to me, just let my son go home!
At Token 2049 in Singapore, Richard Teng, the CEO of Binance, announced that the company is working tirelessly to free Tigran Gambaryan, the crypto exchange’s head of financial crime compliance, who has been detained in Nigeria since February 2024.
Gambaryan’s health has been deteriorating while in custody, and Teng emphasized that Binance has repeatedly asked the Nigerian government to release him for necessary medical care.
“There’s no need to hold our staff,” Teng said on the sidelines at the Token2049 conference in Singapore.
Gambaryan travelled to Nigeria in late February this year at the invitation of the Nigerian government to discuss Binance’s compliance practices in the country. However, after two meetings, he was detained and has since been held at Kuje Prison, a facility known for its harsh conditions.
Aron Akbiyikian, Tigran Gambaryan’s friend and co-worker, said to KMPH Fox 26, “He hasn’t been given a fair trial. He hasn’t been personally accused of anything. At no point in time has he ever been accused of doing anything, only for the fact that the company he works for is being accused of crimes, so they’re charging him for it.”
Binance’s internal team has reportedly been working on various approaches to secure Gambaryan’s release, including urging the US government to officially classify Gambaryan as unlawfully detained and appealing to the Nigerian government on humanitarian grounds.
“Every single day, day in and day out, he catches the bad guys, and now he’s being accused of being one of them without ever directly saying that he did anything,” said Aron Akbiyikian, Tigran Gambaryan’s Friend and coworker.
Tigran Gambaryan was born in Armenia and moved to Fresno, California, with his family when he was in middle school.
On March 25th, Nigerian officials charged Binance with money laundering, tax evasion, and other crimes.
Binance is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Nigeria, processing about 32% of crypto transactions by Nigerians, according to a November 2023 CoinGecko report, citing Statistica data.
