Ex-US prosecutors have called on Anthony Blinken to secure the release of Binance’s senior executive from a Nigerian prison

What’s new? A group of 108 former federal prosecutors and agents of US oversight agencies sent an open letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging him to step up efforts to free Tigran Ghambaryan, a senior executive at crypto exchange Binance, from prison in Nigeria. Gambaryan and his colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British and Kenyan citizen, were detained in Nigeria in February: at that time they arrived for talks with authorities over allegations against the exchange.

Material by Axios

What else is known? The letter, initiated by the Coinbase crypto exchange board member and former prosecutor Katie Haun, says that the government’s efforts to intervene in the Gambarian case are “wholly lacking.”

“Consequences of further inaction are potentially dire,” the signers say.

Gambaryan, a former US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agent and current head of Binance’s financial crime unit, was arrested after Nigerian authorities accused the exchange of money laundering and tax evasion. They claimed the exchange’s actions caused the value of the nation’s currency to collapse. Gambaryan pleaded not guilty to any of the charges, with bail hearings and other court proceedings repeatedly postponed.

Last month, the senior executive collapsed during a hearing. According to relatives, Gambaryan is suspected of having malaria and a severe throat infection, allegedly contracted in prison. The senior executive is lodged in a prison in Kuje district, which houses violent criminals and terrorists, including those from Boko Haram. Although the court ordered that Gambaryan be transferred from the prison to a hospital, the authorities have not complied with the order.

In their letter to Blinken, the signers call Gambaryan’s captivity “not only unjust but inhumane,” noting that he is not receiving proper medical care and is barred from contacting his lawyers and family.

“We implore you to leverage the full power of US diplomacy to do the just thing by demanding and securing Tigranэs immediate release back to his family and the country he has so honorably served,” the letter says.

Earlier, another open letter was created in defense of the senior executive of Binance. Thus, 16 members of Congress addressed President Joe Biden, Blinken, as well as the special representative of the State Department for hostages Roger Carstens. In the letter, the lawmakers urged that the situation be treated as a hostage situation, “We fear for his life. We must act swiftly before it is too late.”

As for Nadeem Anjarwalla, he fled Nigeria in March on a fake passport to Kenya but was later recaptured. Nigerian authorities asked Interpol for help in his extradition.

In May, the new head of Binance, Richard Teng, claimed that Nigerian officials demanded a $150 million bribe in cryptocurrency from the exchange to hush up the allegations. The Ministry of Information called Teng’s statement an attempt to divert attention and turn the tide of the case.