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Hostage Affairs

Binance CEO says task force is working ‘across the clock’ to free exec in Nigeria

Binance CEO Richard Teng said the company has continued to explore every legal and political avenue to bring Gambaryan home as his health deteriorates by the day. 

Binance CEO Richard Teng says his team has been working “across the clock” to bring Tigran Gambaryan home to the United States as the exec’s health declines by the day.

“There’s no need to hold our staff. He’s held unjustly, unfairly,” Teng told Cointelegraph at the Token2049 conference in Singapore on Sept. 19.

“It is distressing for all of us,” said Teng. “Especially for the families. For us at Binance, this is a top priority for us. We have a task force internally working across the clock, looking at different avenues from legal to political.”

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Politicians urge Biden to bring back Binance exec from Nigeria

The U.S. politicians have accused Nigeria’s government of charging Gambaryan, a Binance compliance officer and former federal agent, with “baseless” crimes.

Several United States politicians have reportedly asked President Joe Biden and the hostage affairs unit to try to bring Binance employee Tigran Gambaryan home, who has been held in Nigeria for over three months on charges of money laundering and tax evasion.

In a June 4 letter addressed to President Biden, Secretary Antony Blinken, and the Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger D. Carstens, 12 U.S. politicians stressed that Gambaryan remains “wrongfully detained” by the Nigerian government and that action needs to be taken now before the situation worsens.

The U.S. politicians specifically want the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs to handle Gambaryan’s case, the letter said, which was shared on X by Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett.

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