Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes has expressed concern over the detention of Tigran Gambaryan, a former U.S. federal agent currently imprisoned in Nigeria. Reyes said that Gambaryan is being held "unlawfully," and his worsening health condition poses a threat to his life. This statement was made public in an October 18 press release.
"Tigran Gambaryan is being held unlawfully by the Nigerian government under potentially life-threatening circumstances," said Reyes. "This is not a partisan issue, but rather one of pure humanitarian concern and fundamental patriotic duty. In our role as attorneys general, many of us have jurisdiction over criminal justice matters and are law enforcement leaders for our own communities. Tigran Gambaryan is one of these heroes in our world."
According to Reyes, he and 17 other state attorneys general sent a letter on October 18 to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The letter contained an "urgent request" for Gambaryan to be designated as a hostage under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act. The attorneys general noted that Gambaryan had served as an IRS special agent before joining the cryptocurrency exchange Binance. During his tenure as a federal agent, Gambaryan reportedly "significantly disrupted networks responsible for drug trafficking, human exploitation, weapons trading, and terrorism financing—criminal activities that directly threatened U.S. national security."
The letter further explained that Nigerian government officials had invited Gambaryan in February to participate in compliance discussions. However, upon arrival, instead of receiving professional respect as promised by the National Security Advisor, he was arrested without cause, his passport confiscated, and detained without formal charges. His detention at Kuje Prison is allegedly being used by the Nigerian government as leverage against Binance. The attorneys general described this situation as "extortion" and called for the U.S. Government's intervention given America's support of Nigeria's current political regime.
Reyes' office highlighted the urgency of Gambaryan's situation when Nigerian prison officials failed to bring him to a scheduled court appearance due to health issues. Reyes urged Secretary Blinken to designate Gambaryan as a hostage and employ all available resources to facilitate his return home before his detention results in tragedy.
Reyes has been serving as Utah's Attorney General since 2013 after initially being appointed and subsequently elected in 2014.
