The lawmakers say Gambaryan is being held hostage and they fear for his life.
The Binance exec has been detained in Nigeria for nearly three months and may be suffering from Malaria.

A group of U.S. lawmakers asked President Joe Biden to bring back Tigran Gambaryan, the Binance executive who has been detained in Nigeria for almost three months.

Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the House Foreign Affairs Committee chair, along with 11 other leaders, sent a letter to Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger D. Carstens.

In the letter, they urged the president to treat Gambaryan's case as a hostage situation and bring him back to the U.S. Gambaryan is a U.S. citizen and Binance’s head of compliance.

“We fear for his life. Immediate action is essential to ensure his safety and preserve his life. We must act swiftly before it is too late,” they said.

Gambaryan and another company executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were detained by Nigerian officials after they were invited by the country to resolve a dispute with the crypto exchange. Anjarwalla managed to escape, but Gambaryan has been in Nigeria for almost three months.

The detained exec’s family has said that he is ill and may have malaria. He had collapsed in a Nigerian court on May 24.

Binance and Gambaryan are facing money laundering and tax evasion charges in Nigeria.

Regulations Nigeria Binance

Parikshit Mishra

Parikshit Mishra is CoinDesk's Deputy Managing Editor responsible for breaking news coverage. Before joining CoinDesk, he was the European Editor at Acuris (Mergermarket), where he dealt with copies related to private equity and the startup ecosystem. He has also worked as an analyst for CRISIL, covering the European markets and global economies. His most notable tenure was with Reuters, where he worked as a correspondent and an editor for various teams. He does not have any crypto holdings.