After fainting in a courtroom earlier this week, Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan has been hospitalized in Abuja, Nigeria, where his money laundering case was adjourned, per Reuters.
The largest crypto exchange’s head of financial crime compliance was denied bail earlier this month after being incarcerated in the region in late February. Spending over a month in Nigeria’s Kuje Prison, the executive reportedly appeared gaunt at trial earlier this week.
Gambaryan’s lawyer said in a letter to trial judge Emeka Nwite that he is “very ill and requires comprehensive medical attention." The letter went on to say that he “broke down” and had since been given “intravenous treatment for malaria,” according to the report from Reuters.
In April, Gambryan pleaded not guilty to money laundering charges after he was charged alongside British-Kenyan regional manager for Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla.
Anjarwalla escaped custody in March and was able to fly to Kenya, but there are signs he could face extradition.
Binance CEO Richard Teng demanded the release of the two employees in a blog post earlier this month and refuted the charges from the Nigerian government. In two separate lawsuits, the Nigerian government alleges that Binance has been evading taxes and allowed its exchange to be used for money laundering.
Teng also said that Gambaryan, an "innocent, mid-level employee," is being held in "a dangerous prison in order to control Binance."
For his part, Gambaryan has sued the Nigerian government for violating his fundamental human rights.
The two Binance executives were invited to travel to Nigeria to meet with government officials to discuss the allegations there before any lawsuits were filed. But once there, they were detained in an official’s guest house for more than a month without charges.