UPDATED: Binance: Tigran Gambaryan’s Wife Calls On EFCC To Drop Charges And End ‘Nightmare’ In Nigeria

Yuki Gambaryan, Wife of supposedly Binance executive, Tigran Gambaryan, has opened up about the travail of her husband who is still being detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) despite being cleared of all charges by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

The FIRS had on Friday last week agreed to revise their charges against Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla to serve solely on Binance, through its local representative.

The court decision means Binance is the sole defendant in the tax evasion case of which Tigran and Nadeem were held earlier. Tigran will no longer need to appear in court for the FIRS case.

Binance, had while reacting to the court judgment, stated that the development goes to show that both Tigran and Nadeem are not decision makers at Binance and should never have been detained and charged.

“Despite this clarity from the FIRS that Tigran and Nadeem should not have been charged, the bogus EFCC charges against them remain. The next hearing in this case is scheduled for June 19th where the application for an order for the enforcement of fundamental rights will be heard, Nikita, a family publicist said.

On June 20th the EFCC trial is due to continue. Tigran will remain detained at Kuje prison.

Multiple reports say since Tigran collapsed in court on May 23rd with Malaria, his health conditions have worsened and Tigran now has pneumonia, his lawyer was quoted to have said.

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Despite a court order by Justice Emeka Nwite to take Tigran to hospital immediately, “it took the prison authorities 11 days to take him for a brief check-up”.

“The prison is not allowing the results of this check-up at the hospital to be released to his family, lawyers nor the US embassy as they have named a person from the prison as his next of kin.

“Despite clear statements from Tigran and written requests from the Embassy, his lawyers and his wife Yuki to change this, nothing has been done”.

On June 4th, 16 US Members of Congress including the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul wrote to President Biden highlighting that he is a “U.S. Citizen wrongfully detained by a foreign government,” and urging him to do more to secure his release.

On June 6th, 108 former federal agents wrote to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to ask him to push for Tigran’s release.

Tigran’s wife Yuki Gambaryan said, “I am glad the FIRS charges against Tigran have finally been dropped. This clearly shows that any issues between the Nigerian authorities and Binance can be resolved without holding my husband in prison. I sincerely hope the Nigerian authorities will now see how unnecessary it is to keep Tigran at Kuje. I am praying that they now swiftly drop the EFCC charges against him so that this nightmare can finally come to an end.

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“My biggest concern at the moment is Tigran’s deteriorating health and the awful conditions he is being kept in. While at Kuje, he has had a serious infection, malaria, and now pneumonia and to make matters worse, we have no access to his medical records.

“Despite the fact that he is clearly an innocent man, he is being treated as a dangerous criminal and his basic human rights are being neglected. We really need the US government to intervene more forcefully for the immediate release of an innocent American citizen.

“This has gone on too long and Tigran’s life is at risk. My children and I just want him back so our family can be whole again.”