Detained Binance Executive’s Wife Says Husband Now In Wheelchair, Denied Access To Doctors

The family of the American citizen, Tigran Gambaryan, has raised the alarm over his “deteriorating health condition while the detaining authority in Nigeria has denied his legal team adequate access to see him”.

In a media statement released on Monday by the family through Mondo-Advisory, a communications agency, the family claimed that since the Federal High Court in Abuja went on holiday on July 16th – after adjourning the next hearing to October 11th - Tigran's conditions have significantly worsened.

According to the statement, since July 26, his legal team has been blocked from entering Kuje prison to meet with him, a development the family stated was against the Nigerian constitution.

The family noted that it is also against section 45 of the Nigerian Prisons Regulations which states that "all prisoners, other than prisoners under sentence, shall be allowed all reasonable opportunities daily of communicating with their friends or legal adviser, and they may write and receive letters.”

The family noted that the "herniated disc in Tigran's back requires highly specialized and risky surgery". "He has had so many throat infections as well as pneumonia at Kuje, that he now also requires a further surgery to remove his tonsils," the family said.

While appealing to the Nigerian government to release him to return home and receive urgent medical treatment before it is too late, the statement noted that "he is mostly bedridden," and "is now having to take blood thinners to avoid blood clots".

The statement noted that Gambaryan, the Binance executive who has been in detention since February 26 in Nigeria over money laundering charges, had previously suffered from malaria in detention and collapsed in court.

"Despite his health being in such a concerning condition, the prison continues to hold his medical records," the family noted.

Recall that Gambaryan and his colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were arrested and detained on February 26 following an investigation into Binance’s activities in Nigeria.

Subsequently, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nigeria's anti-corruption agency charged Gambaryan, his company, Binance Holdings Limited and Anjarwalla, a fellow top executive currently on the run before a Federal High Court sitting for money laundering and terrorism financing.