He emphasised the urgent need for intervention to address humanitarian concerns and secure Gambaryan's prompt release.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of cryptocurrency trading firm, Binance, Richard Teng, has expressed grave concern about the well-being of Tigran Gambaryan, a top executive at the cryptocurrency firm, who is being held in Nigeria on allegations of money laundering and tax evasion.
He emphasised the urgent need for intervention to address humanitarian concerns and secure Gambaryan's prompt release.
Teng said, “We are now at the six month mark of Tigran's unjust detention. Tigran's physical and mental conditions have deteriorated rapidly with his situation being more dire than ever. He is in severe pain and unable to walk due to a herniated disc.
“Despite his conditions, the Nigerian government has refused adequate medical care, including basic needs such as providing access to a wheelchair.
“Furthermore, they are refusing to provide access to his legal counsel, despite a trial commencing on 2 September, which we have been informed is unconstitutional in Nigeria.
“A court has demanded the government release Tigran's medical records but after several months, they have still not complied.
“This week Tigran was denied access to his US consulate representative. These actions are inexplicable.
“I am deeply concerned about the long-term, potentially irreversible physical and mental impact this horrific episode is having on Tigran and I appeal once again for the Nigerian government to allow him to go home to his family on humanitarian grounds so that he can seek the appropriate medical treatment in the US, recover and get back to the healthy, active life he previously had.”
Describing charges against Tigran as baseless allegations which should not be used to continue to hold the Binance executive in detention, Teng said, “A reason that the Nigerian government has used for continuing to hold Tigran is because ‘(Binance) is operating virtually. The only thing we have to hold on to is this defendant.’”
Teng said, “This statement is far from the truth. There is no need to imprison an innocent employee to answer for any allegations against Binance.
“We have settled issues in countries around the world, including the US, Thailand, and most recently in Brazil and India, in a reasonable, collaborative and amicable manner with governments.
“All these were done without threat or harm inflicted to any of our employees. This is no good reason to hold an innocent employee to advance the discussion of outstanding issues.”