‘This is Fucked Up’: Detained Binance Exec Protests Treatment by Nigerian Court

Detained Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan protested his treatment by Nigerian authorities in a newly released video posted on Twitter.

In the video, Gambaryan can be seen crying out in pain, pleading with a Nigerian guard for support, as he struggles to walk using a single crutch.

“[The guard] was told not to help me,” Gambaryan asserted to cameras filming him, adding, “This is fucked up! Why can’t I use a goddamn wheelchair?”

Binance CEO Richard Teng retweeted the video, stating that, “This inhumane treatment of Tigran must end. He must be allowed to go home for medical treatment and to be with his family.”

A Binance spokesperson told Decrypt that, “We are extremely distressed by the video of Tigran in court yesterday,” adding that the executive’s health is “rapidly declining” amid concern over “the long term consequences of this unjust detention.”

“Nigeria does not need to keep Tigran in order for us to settle any alleged past issues.” the spokesperson said, adding that, “We continue to implore the Government of Nigeria to let Tigran return home and let us continue in our engagements.”

Gambaryan’s detention in Nigeria

Gambaryan, Binance’s head of financial crime compliance, has been detained in Nigeria since February, where he and the exchange have been accused of money laundering to the tune of $35 million and manipulating the forex market.

During this time, Gambaryan’s team says his health has deteriorated, with the executive having collapsed in court, suffered from a herniated disc which has left him immobile, and experienced several bouts of malaria. Despite this, a Nigerian court denied his request for bail in May, citing flight risk concerns.

According to local media, the altercation came amid a hearing at the Federal High Court in Abuja where the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) contested the severity of Gambaryan’s health concerns.

Ekene Iheanacho, lead counsel for the EFCC, reportedly told the court that he had seen the Binance executive walking within the detention facility, contradicting his claims that he was unable to move. 

This came soon after the wife of Gambaryan issued a plea for the U.S. government to intervene in what she considered to be the unlawful detention of her husband, a U.S. citizen and former IRS agent.

“I am deeply concerned about recent statements from Nigerian authorities denying Tigran’s health issues,” Yuki Gambaryan, the Binance executive’s wife, said in a statement. “He is in so much pain that he can barely walk.”

She said the prison has withheld the executive’s medical records for months and that partial records it has released suggest that he requires surgery.

In July, U.S. Representatives French Hill (R-AR) and Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) submitted a resolution to Congress urging the government to consider Gambaryan a hostage and calling on the U.S. to “do everything in its power” to secure his release.