The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said detained Binance executive, Tigran Gambaryan, is not sick as speculated by his family and legal team.
Tigran’s wife had earlier raised concerns about his deteriorating health after six months in detention by the Nigerian authorities.
Gambaryan was detained on February 26, 2024, and his family is seeking urgent intervention to address his situation.
In a statement released last Monday, through Mondo-Advisory, the family revealed that Gambaryan’s health had severely declined, leaving him bedridden and in urgent need of medical attention, which has been consistently denied.
The statement highlighted that his legal team faces restricted access, hindering trial preparation, and the US Embassy in Nigeria has lost access to him.
Reacting, EFCC’s lead counsel, Ekene Iheanacho, informed Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday, that the health concerns of the Binance executive were “not as serious” as had been presented.
The opposition was in response to a fresh bail application by Gambaryan’s lawyer, Mark Mordi, SAN, seeking the release of the Binance executive to attend to his health condition.
At the proceedings, Gambaryan’s lawyer requested fresh bail for the defendant, alleging that his health was in jeopardy, stating that the bail application was filed on August 28, 2024.
He expressed his desire for the bail application to be heard on Monday, as the medical report of his client has not been provided to him as directed by the court.
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Iheanacho, however, stated that he had filed a counter affidavit to the bail application.
He mentioned that the appropriate authorities had given him the medical records, and from the records he reviewed, Gambaryan’s health challenge “is not as serious” as it has been portrayed.
The Binance legal team maintained that the executive’s health is deteriorating, adding, “It is most unfortunate that this is happening in Nigeria today.”
Iheanacho responded, saying, “My Lord, I don’t want to go into detail about this issue. Ordinarily, the defendant has been living with this (herniated disc) condition for the past 12 years before he came to Nigeria. It is not as if it is a new issue.”
The EFCC lawyer maintained that Nigerian authorities had been taking care of him in terms of due diligence, and had taken him to different hospitals, adding that the only problem was the issue of presenting the medical report to the court.
He also submitted that prison officials report that Gambaryan walks within the facility.“In terms of taking him to different medical facilities, they (prison) have been doing that,” he said.
He argued that it was unfair for Binance to paint the picture of Gambaryan as someone without properly medical care.
Gambaryan interjected, acknowledging that he had had the (disk) condition for 12 years.
“It was treated, but when the condition goes untreated at a prison or a medical facility, this is what happens. I’ve been complaining about this forever, and nothing was done,” he said in open court, adding that the lack of appropriate treatment had caused permanent nerve damage, resulting in his current state.
Justice Emeka Nwite adjourned the matter to September 4.
