U.S. Representative Rich McCormick (R-GA) said that Binance employee Tigran Gambaryan, a former U.S. federal agent, is being "wrongfully detained" in Nigeria and denied medical care and legal access. McCormick shared his statement in a September 19 post on X.
"An American citizen and constituent of mine, Tigran Gambaryan, is being wrongfully detained by the Nigeria government," said McCormick. "Worse still, he is regularly being denied access to much needed medical care and his lawyers."
According to Forbes, Gambaryan, who works in a compliance role for the global cryptocurrency exchange Binance, traveled to Nigeria for meetings in January to address regulatory concerns. He 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 there, he was charged with financial crimes and moved to a prison. While in prison, Gambaryan's health has deteriorated significantly due to an untreated herniated disc. Prison officials are withholding his medical records despite multiple court orders.
Will Frentzen, one of Gambaryan's attorneys, said that in addition to the herniated disc which now requires surgery, Gambaryan has suffered from malaria, pneumonia, tonsillitis, and a chest infection. "Tigran Gambaryan’s detention is not just a miscarriage of justice because he is innocent of these charges; it is a life-threatening situation," Frentzen said. Gambaryan's trial has faced multiple procedural delays while Nigerian authorities have admitted they charged him to put pressure on his employer.
McCormick represented Gambaryan on behalf of his wife Yuki during a House Foreign Affairs Committee roundtable. According to a video of the event, McCormick read a statement from Yuki describing the "grave injustice" of her husband's detention. She said Gambaryan was invited to Nigeria as part of his job with Binance but was arrested and detained without charge or explanation 24 hours after his arrival. The charges later "fabricated" against him are "utterly baseless," according to Yuki. She said that he was lured into the country under false pretenses only to be arrested due to some vendetta against his employer.
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 in a statement: "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. He is currently a member of the House Armed Services Committee as well as the Foreign Affairs and Science Committees.
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