Yuki Gambaryan, the wife of Tigran Gambaryan, the detained Binance executive in Nigeria, has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC) to drop the charges against her husband.
In April, the EFCC had arraigned Binance Holdings Limited, a cryptocurrency firm, and Gambaryan, over allegations bordering on money laundering.
The company and its executives were arraigned on a five-count charge before Emeka Nwite, a judge at the federal high court in Abuja, on April 8.
On June 14, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) dropped its tax charges against Gambaryan.
In a statement on Tuesday, July 2, Yuki asked the EFCC to follow the steps of FIRS as her husband and his family are finding it hard to deal with his continued detention.
“He is suffering immensely under the strain of this injustice. I respectfully urge the EFCC to follow the example set by their colleagues at the FIRS (tax authority) and drop the charges against Tigran,” she said.
“As I have stated many times before and as the evidence in court is showing, Tigran has never been a decision-maker at Binance, and there is no justification for his continued detention.
“It is time for the Nigerian authorities to do the right thing and release my innocent husband. This situation has gone too far.”
She added that Gambaryan’s health continues to “deteriorate in detention and he complained of numbness in his foot as well as back pain.”
“He has had double pneumonia and malaria whilst in prison,” Yuki said.
In the statement, Yuki said the federal high court in Abuja ordered Kuje correctional facility to release the medical records of Gambaryan — covering his visit to the hospital on June 3 — to his lawyers.
The trial has been adjourned to July 5.
