Matty Ice, host of The Runway Podcast, stated that Tigran Gambaryan, a former IRS Special Agent and current Binance employee, is not receiving sufficient medical treatment despite fainting in court and reportedly suffering from malaria. Ice shared his statement in a May 27 post about Gambaryan, who has been detained in Nigeria since February 26.
"They're holding an American hero in prison with terrorists," said Ice. "Tigran COLLAPSED in court! He can't walk, probably has malaria, and they won't even give him medical care! His wife is scared he'll DIE in there."
According to CoinGape, a Nigerian court ordered Gambaryan to be moved from Kuje Prison to a hospital. However, Nigerian prison officials have not taken him to the medical facility. Gambaryan collapsed in a courtroom last week, prompting Justice Emeka Nwite's order for Gambaryan to be moved to Nizayime Hospital for treatment of malaria and a severe throat infection. Yuki, Gambaryan's wife, said she is "devastated and shocked that, despite the court’s clear directive for his admission to a hospital, the authorities have not allowed him to leave the very prison causing his illness."
Nigerian authorities detained Gambaryan in February after inviting him to Abuja for policy meetings, The Guardian reported. Officials accused Binance of manipulating the naira's exchange rate after hundreds of thousands of Nigerian citizens turned to cryptocurrency to protect their funds from the naira's volatility. Nigerian authorities have charged Gambaryan with tax evasion and money laundering, charges to which he pleaded not guilty.
Researchers from Amnesty International described conditions in Nigerian prisons as "appalling," according to a press release from the organization. Cells are "squalid" and overcrowded, with overflowing toilets that are "little more than holes in the floor." Disease is "rampant" due to unsanitary and crowded conditions. Inmates reported that they could only access medical staff and supplies if they had enough money for bribes.
For ten years, Gambaryan was a U.S. federal agent who investigated cases related to "national security, terrorism financing, identity theft, distribution of child pornography, tax evasion, and bank secrecy act violations," according to a post on Binance's website. Binance hired him in 2021 to help address historical compliance issues. In 2022 and 2023, his team assisted law enforcement agencies around the world in freezing and seizing more than $2.2 billion worth of assets.
Ice hosts The Runway Podcast, which focuses on developments in Web3 (the decentralized web), cryptocurrency (crypto), artificial intelligence (AI), and blockchain technology.