A bipartisan group of 18 US state attorneys general is asking President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to take action in securing the release of Binance’s compliance officer Tigran Gambaryan from a Nigerian prison.
Gambaryan, a former agent of the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), was arrested in February while visiting Nigeria to address regulatory concerns about Binance.
Gambaryan is facing charges of money laundering and operating an unlicensed financial institution.
In August, reports emerged that Gambaryan’s physical and mental conditions had deteriorated rapidly with the Nigerian government allegedly refusing to give him adequate medical care or basic treatment.
In their joint letter, the attorneys general ask for Gambaryan’s designation as a hostage under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, saying that the Nigerian government unlawfully incarcerated the Binance executive under potentially life-threatening circumstances.
“This designation will unlock critical resources and apply additional diplomatic pressure to ensure his immediate release. The Levinson Act was designed specifically for cases like this, where US citizens are unlawfully detained for political or financial leverage.”
They say the US should use every tool at its disposal to defend one of the nation’s most dedicated law enforcement officers who played a role in taking down child pornography ring Welcome to Video and dark web marketplaces AlphaBay and Silk Road.
“This blatant misuse of power is nothing less than extortion, and it must be met with the full weight of the U.S. Government’s influence, particularly given America’s financial and political support of the current political regime in Nigeria.”
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