Detained Binance Executive Tigran Gambaryan Is A Hostage, Former IRS Chief Says

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Julia Smith

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Julia Smith

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Julia is an experienced editor with a passion for covering a wide variety of beats. She loves all things politics and regularly covers regulatory updates on emerging technology here for Crypto News.

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Last updated:

October 4, 2024 14:50 EDT

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Former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Chief of Investigations Richard Weber shed light on the dire conditions that Nigerian Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan is facing amid his imprisonment in the African country.

According to an October 3 podcast episode of Illicit Edge’s “Designated,” Weber said Gambaryan’s detainment at Kuje prison had been anything but ideal, with the crypto compliance chief behind bars alongside “the worst of the worst” terrorists.

Tigran Gambaryan Is A Hostage, Richard Weber Says

“It’s a prison that hold really bad people, including terrorists, and here we have a former law enforcement official and dedicated public servant who is working at a crypto company as a mid-level employee…who is trying to resolve a compliance issue – who then gets arrested and thrown into the same facility,” Weber said.

The former top U.S. law enforcement official then urged the U.S. government to release Gambaryan to his wife Yuki and their two young children back in California.

“Tigran is a hostage. He did nothing wrong. He is sitting in a prison for a crime he did not commit,” Weber continued. “He’s been in prison for over 200 days – almost eight months – and no one knows what he really did wrong. I don’t even think the Nigerian government knows what he did wrong, and yet they are holding him there.”

Gambaryan was detained in late February 2024 after traveling to the African nation for policy talks regarding digital assets. He was reportedly assured of safe passage in and out of the country beforehand.

His subsequent imprisonment on tax evasion and money laundering charges has caused members of the crypto community to question the legitimacy of his arrest, with U.S. lawmaker French Hill (R-AR) referring to Gambaryan as a “pawn in a Nigerian political fight.”

Wife Of Detained Binance Executive Speaks Out

The Binance executive’s health has dwindled significantly since his initial detainment, having suffered from both malaria and double pneumonia behind bars.

Footage from an early September Abuja court hearing shows Gambryan struggling to walk as he deals with complications from a herniated disc.

“I’m not okay,” Gambaryan cried in the video. “Why couldn’t I use a goddamn wheelchair? This is a show. I’m innocent—why are you doing this to me?”

Weber’s comments come shortly after Yuki Gambaryan spoke on the previous episode of “Designated,” pushing for her husband’s release.

“What Tigran is going through every day is a complete disregard for justice and humanity and it should not be tolerated,” Ms. Gambaryan said. “…It is getting harder and harder to stay hopeful.”