US authorities reportedly have put pressure on Nigeria to release detained Binance employees

According to two informed sources cited by The New York Times, the US government has urged Nigeria to release Tigran Gambaryan, an employee of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, who was arrested in Nigeria in February this year and is facing deteriorating health problems in prison.

Tigran Gambaryan is the Financial Crime Compliance Director at Binance and previously worked as a criminal investigator for the US Treasury Department. In February of this year, he and Nadeem Anjarwalla, the regional manager of Binance Africa, were invited by the Nigerian government to attend a high-level meeting on Binance's compliance issues in the country. However, the government later accused the exchange of destabilizing the country's currency and detained the two high-level personnel.

Related report: The Wall Street Journal: Should Binance be blamed for Nigeria's currency crisis

Two anonymous senior officials of the United States Department of State revealed that the detention of Tigran Gambaryan has become an important factor in the diplomatic relations between the United States and Nigeria. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned this issue to Nigerian officials in May. Other U.S. diplomats, including the ambassador to Nigeria, also called for the release of Gambaryan in private talks with the President, Minister of Finance, Minister of Justice and Minister of Trade of Nigeria.

According to informed officials, Gambaryan, 40, suffers from health problems caused by malaria and a herniated disc. US diplomats believe that he should be released on humanitarian grounds. Gambaryan's family stated that he did not receive sufficient medical treatment, resulting in a rapid deterioration of his health condition.

Nigerian prosecutors have charged Gambaryan and Binance with tax evasion and money laundering. Although the tax evasion charges against Gambaryan have been dropped, other charges are still ongoing. Binance denies these allegations and argues that Gambaryan is only a mid-level executive and should not be held responsible for the company's actions.

A representative of the Nigerian federal government stated on Thursday that Gambaryan has access to medical care from qualified doctors and stated that "the court is the right place to evaluate the substantive issues of any lawsuit". Bayo Onanuga, advisor to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, stated that US Ambassador Richard M. Mills Jr met with the President's Chief of Staff, National Security Advisor, and other officials this month. Onanuga said, "Negotiations are still ongoing. The government will do its best to act within the legal framework while keeping in mind Gambaryan's humanitarian rights

Gambaryan's lawyer Robert S. Litt argues that the allegations made by the Nigerian authorities are fabricated and that they know Gambaryan is innocent. Litt has urged the State Council to invoke a four-year old law, the Levinson Act, to classify Gambaryan as' improperly detained '. This will be a significant escalation and may open the door to sanctions or other punitive actions against individual Nigerian officials.

According to informed officials, the State Council does not rule out taking such action and is monitoring the case for any signs of wrongdoing. One of the informed officials stated that the US government still has some confidence in Nigeria's judicial system. However, a person close to the Nigerian president revealed that local officials believe that the United States is interfering in the country's judicial process and do not consider it a humanitarian issue.