Sixteen members of Congress are calling on President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens to intervene on behalf of Tigran Gambaryan, a Binance employee and former U.S. federal agent who has been "wrongfully detained" in Nigeria since February 26. The lawmakers shared their statement in a June 4 letter that was posted on X by Eleanor Terrett.
The members of Congress who signed the letter include Rep. Rich McCormick, whose district encompasses Gambaryan's hometown of Suwanee, Georgia, and Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. According to a copy of the letter, the lawmakers said Gambaryan's background is "impressive and distinguished," having served at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for more than ten years before becoming head of financial crime compliance at Binance. During his service with the IRS, Gambaryan "successfully led some of the most prolific cyber investigations in U.S. history," as a result of which he seized $4.725 billion in "illicit funds" on behalf of the U.S. government.
According to the letter, Nigerian government officials invited Gambaryan to meet with them on February 26 to discuss Binance's compliance in Nigeria. The Nigerian government then took Gambaryan "hostage." He was escorted by armed guards to a Nigerian government-owned "guest house" and forced to surrender his passport. He was "held hostage without the ability to inform his family, attorneys, or the U.S. State Department of his situation" for the next five days. The Nigerian court order allowing Gambaryan to be held expired on March 12, but he continued to be detained "without legal basis" until April 5 when he was charged with "several crimes as an effigy of his employer."
The Nigerian government acknowledged that Gambaryan was being charged with crimes "in lieu of pursuing legal action against his employer" and transferred him to Kuje Prison, according to the letter. The lawmakers said Gambaryan's detention "has been marked by excessive and harsh treatment," and he has not been allowed to meet with his legal team without armed guards and Nigerian government officials also being present. McCormick stated: "It is crucial to emphasize that the charges against Mr. Gambaryan are baseless and constitute a coercion tactic by the Nigerian government to extort his employer, Binance." Consequently, they said Gambaryan qualifies as a "U.S. Citizen wrongfully detained by a foreign government," as defined in the "Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act."
Gambaryan has now tested positive for malaria but is not receiving adequate medical treatment, according to the letter. Nigerian officials failed to bring him to a court hearing on May 22; on May 23, he "could not stand on his own and ultimately collapsed to the floor." After he collapsed, a judge ordered for him to be moved from Kuje Prison to a hospital for treatment but as of June 4 had not been moved. The lawmakers requested for Gambaryan's case to be transferred to the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. The lawmakers added: "Mr. Gambaryan’s health and well-being are in danger, and we fear for his life," emphasizing that immediate action is essential.
For ten years, Gambaryan was a U.S. federal agent who investigated cases related to national security among other serious crimes, according to a post on Binance's website. Binance hired him in 2021; in 2022 and 2023, his team assisted law enforcement agencies around the world in freezing and seizing more than $2.2 billion worth of assets.
