Concerns increased over Tigran Gambaryan’s well-being on Oct. 18 after his illness prevented him from appearing in court.
A group of 18 state attorneys general has urged President Joe Biden to help secure the release of Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan, who has been detained in Nigeria since February 2024.
The attorneys general have asked Biden to designate Gambaryan as a hostage under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act.
The group expressed concern over Gambaryan’s deteriorating health and the unlawful nature of his detention, according to a joint letter sent on Oct. 18.
Was Gambaryan detained to extort Binance?
Gambaryan was detained during a visit to Nigeria to address allegations related to Binance’s involvement in manipulating the local currency, which began to crash in May 2023. He was reportedly connected to alleged financial crimes involving $34 million linked to Binance’s operations in the country.
However, numerous US lawmakers said that Gambaryan was wrongfully detained.
In July, Representative Rich McCormick introduced a resolution to Congress calling for the labeling of Gambaryan’s detention as a “hostage” situation.” At the time, McCormick claimed that the Nigerian government was holding Gambaryan without cause to extort the cryptocurrency exchange for money.
