Washington should declare Binance Vice President for Global Intelligence and Investigations Tigran Gambarian, who is in custody in Nigeria, hostage if his case is not solved by mid-July. This is stated in the resolution of member of the U.S. House of Representatives Rich McCormick.
In his opinion, the actions of the Nigerian authorities are illegal. He called on the American government to take steps to release Gambarian and provide him with medical care if his trial is not completed by mid-July.
French Hill, a member of the House of Representatives, also participated in drafting the resolution, who visited Binance's top manager in prison. At that time, he stated that Gambaryan suffers from malaria and bilateral pneumonia, and also does not receive adequate medical care.
Earlier, members of the US Congress and a group of American ex-officials called on President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to assist in the return of an American citizen to his homeland.
Gambarian and the director of the exchange in West and East Africa, Nadeem Andjarwalla, were detained after meeting with the Nigerian authorities in February. Together with Binance Holdings Limited, they were accused of tax evasion and money laundering. The company and top managers deny their guilt.
At the end of March, Anjarwalla secretly flew from Nigeria to Kenya. However, the authorities tracked him down there and agreed to extradite him.
In June, the Federal Tax Service of Nigeria cleared top managers of tax evasion charges. However, they continue to be investigated for money laundering.
Recall that the deputy head of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olubukola Akinwumi, as a witness for the prosecution, called Binance's illegal activities in the country.