U.S. Representative Rich McCormick said that a Binance employee and former U.S. federal agent imprisoned in Nigeria is being denied rights guaranteed by Nigerian law. McCormick shared his statement during a Congressional hearing on September 19.
"I'm going to call him a hostage, because he was arrested after being lured there based on basically representing an organization, Binance," said McCormick, Congressman. "He's a guy who used to work for the IRS, has prosecuted cases, a super honest guy, a constituent of mine. He's being treated totally unfairly. He hasn't been given the rights that they guarantee him by their own constitution, by their own laws."
According to Forbes, Tigran Gambaryan, who works in a compliance role for the global cryptocurrency exchange Binance, traveled to Nigeria for meetings in January to address regulatory concerns. Gambaryan left after the meetings became "hostile," but Nigerian officials invited him to return in February and guaranteed his safety. After meeting with officials in February, Gambaryan was detained in a government-owned guesthouse. Following over a month of detention, he was charged with financial crimes and moved to a prison. While in prison, Gambaryan's health has deteriorated due to an untreated herniated disc, and prison officials are withholding his medical records despite multiple court orders.
Binance CEO Richard Teng said Gambaryan was denied access to his legal team in August, preventing him from preparing for his trial. According to Teng, refusing to allow Gambaryan to speak with his lawyers violates Nigeria's constitution. Additionally, Teng mentioned that Gambaryan was denied access to his U.S. consulate representative. "I am deeply concerned about the long-term, potentially irreversible physical and mental impact this horrific episode is having on Tigran," Teng said. He appealed once again for the Nigerian government to allow Gambaryan to return home on humanitarian grounds so he can seek appropriate medical treatment in the U.S.
Gambaryan's wife Yuki said in a Change.org petition that when Gambaryan was initially detained, authorities had obtained a 14-day court order allowing him to be held. However, he was held even after the court order expired without being charged with a crime. Nigerian courts did not extend the order, and two more weeks passed before charges were filed against him.
Before joining Binance in 2021, Gambaryan spent ten years working as a special agent for the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Cyber Crimes Unit. In this role with the IRS, he investigated cases involving national security, terrorism financing, identity theft, distribution of child pornography, tax evasion, and bank secrecy act violations during his award-winning career. When he joined Binance, Gambaryan said: "I want to educate the worldwide law enforcement community on how Binance is a partner in the fight against the illicit use of cryptocurrency."
McCormick is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who represents Georgia's 6th Congressional District. Prior to being elected to Congress, McCormick worked as an Emergency Room physician at Northside Hospital and is currently a member of the House Armed Services Committee as well as Foreign Affairs and Science Committees.