The Binance executive facing charges of money laundering, Tigran Gambaryan, has raised concerns about his treatment by the Nigerian government.
In a video shared widely on social media by SYMFONI, Gambaryan, who was seen using crutches, accused the Nigeria Correctional Service of neglecting him on orders from the government.
“This is Fucked Up, he was told not to help me. This is an instruction from the government. It is a show, I am an innocent person,” Gambaryan asserted in the video.
This incident follows his recent arraignment at the Federal High Court in Abuja. On August 28, 2024, Gambaryan’s legal team, led by Mark Mordi, SAN, submitted a bail application on his behalf.
However, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), represented by counsel Ekene Iheanacho, opposed the bail request, arguing that Gambaryan’s health condition, which he has lived with for over a decade, does not warrant bail.
“My Lord, I don’t want to go into detail about this issue. Ordinarily, the defendant had been living with this (disk) condition for the past 12 years before he came to Nigeria. It is not as if it is a new issue,” Iheanacho stated.
Gambaryan’s wife, Yuki, also spoke out, calling the situation “entirely unjust” and accusing the Nigerian government of unlawfully detaining her husband after luring him to the country under false pretenses.
In April, Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered that Gambaryan remain in Kuje prison until a decision on his bail application was reached.
Naija News reports that Tigran Gambaryan and his colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who is currently at large, were apprehended in February on charges of exploiting Nigeria’s currency through their cryptocurrency platform
The Federal Government has stated that Binance is not registered in Nigeria, has not paid taxes in the country, and has been operating without the necessary regulatory oversight or safeguards to detect criminal activities.
In the meantime, American lawmakers have urged the U.S. government to declare Tigran Gambaryan “wrongfully detained” in Nigeria, adding to the international pressure on the case.
See video below:
