The wife of Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan has urged the U.S. State Department to declare her husband wrongfully detained as his health continues to deteriorate in a Nigerian prison.
Yuki Gambaryan said her husband was in extreme pain from a herniated disc and was unable to walk. He also continues to suffer from respiratory infections and needs to have his tonsils removed, he said on a podcast called Designated, hosted by Yaya Fanusie and released Tuesday by Illicit Edge. Fanusie is a former CIA analyst and is currently the Director of AML and Cyber Risk Policy at the Crypto Council for Innovation.
The U.S. State Department should intervene, Yuki Gambaryan said in the podcast.
“What I hope will happen soon is for the State Department to officially declare Tigran as wrongfully detained,” she told Fanusie.
Gambaryan, a former U.S. Internal Revenue Service agent and Binance’s head of financial crimes compliance, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, another Binance executive. detention After Binance arrived in Nigeria in February, it faced accusations of illegal trading profits there. Criminal charges were filed against them on February 28. Later Anjarwalla escape He was detained on March 22.
Yuki Gambaryan said her husband went to Nigeria earlier this year and the meeting became “hostile.” Binance CEO Richard Teng said exchange employees met with Nigerian officials and their lawyer was approached by someone demanding “a significant sum of money be paid secretly in cryptocurrency within 48 hours to resolve this matter.” He said he did. According to May, Teng said the team became concerned about their safety and immediately left the country. Blog post. The meeting was later scheduled to be held again at the end of February, but both Tigran Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were later detained, although they were assured they would be safe, he added.
The U.S. government is her only hope of finding her husband again, Yuki Gambarian said.
“It gives me some hope because I believe they have the ability, the power and the leverage to solve these kinds of problems, but I also want to tell you that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to maintain hope,” she said on the podcast. .
H.Res. 1348
Work is underway in the U.S. House of Representatives to free Tigran Gambaryan. Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs passed resolution We call on Nigerians to release Tigran Gambarian and declare that he is being unjustly detained.
Legislative action H.Res. 1348, introduction Republican Reps. Rich McCormick and French Hill passed it by voice vote in July. The resolution calls on the Nigerian government to provide him with “unlimited medical care” and asks the U.S. State Department to “mobilize all available assets and all means to secure his release,” McCormick said at Tuesday’s hearing.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the U.S. government had communicated with the Nigerian government to release Gambarian and was disappointed Nigeria had not responded.
“I know that the Department of State is fully engaged in Mr. Gambarian’s case and is evaluating the facts in accordance with procedures,” Meeks said in support of the resolution last week. “But no matter how the process unfolds, we must continue to put pressure on the Nigerian government.”
The resolution is expected to be introduced to the full U.S. House of Representatives when Congress reconvenes following the election.
their family
Speaking on Fanusie’s podcast, Yuki Gambaryan said she remembers her husband sending her a message when he arrived in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, in late February. He told her he had checked into his hotel and was wearing the t-shirt she had given him for Valentine’s Day, and that he would keep her posted. Yuki Gambaryan said he did not hear from him for 24 hours and later received a call from the US Embassy in Abuja saying he had been detained.
One of her children keeps asking about her father, Yuki Gambaryan said on the podcast.
“It’s becoming more and more difficult to keep things from my 10-year-old because he keeps coming to me and asking questions like, Why is daddy still there? What’s going on?” she said
Yuki Gambaryan said the company he works for is facing a legal problem and he is helping resolve it, but he said his daughter came back with more questions.
“Honestly, I don’t know how to answer that question,” Yuki Gambarian said.
There’s also a 5-year-old who Yuki Gambaryan says “barely recognizes” but continues to miss his father. She said she recently took her son to the park and saw a plane in the sky and asked if his father was on the plane.
“It was heartbreaking,” said Yuki Gambarian.
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