Binance, Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen and head of financial crime and Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British Kenyan, are facing trial for laundering more than $35 million.

Aglobal cryptocurrency trading platform, Binance Holdings Ltd has disclosed that Nigerian authorities demanded a large amount of money as a bribe to make the money laundering trial initiated against two of its executives go away.

Binance, Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen and head of financial crime and Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British Kenyan, are facing trial for laundering more than $35 million.

The suit was filed by Nigeria's anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Bloomberg reports that Binance Chief Executive Officer Richard Teng made the claim in a blog on Monday, detailing how the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange tried to engage with Nigerian authorities, including having a meeting which was held in Abuja on January 8, 2024.

As our employees were leaving the venue, they were approached by unknown persons who suggested to them to make a payment in settlement of the allegations,” Teng wrote.

After that incident, Binance’s lawyer was “presented with a demand for a significant payment in cryptocurrency to be paid in secret within 48 hours to make these issues go away,” Teng wrote.



The amount in question was $150 million (N207,304,500,000), the New York Times reported separately, without revealing the identities of those involved.



Nigeria, which blames crypto speculators for some of the naira’s depreciation against the US dollar, denied this allegation.



“Investigators are confident that the sequence of events is not as Binance has indicated, nor the material facts,” said Zakari Mijinyawa, spokesman for Nigeria’s National Security Adviser.



“It will of course be for the courts to decide, and for due process to be followed and justice delivered,” he added.



The incident marks the latest legal problems for Binance, whose founder Changpeng Zhao was ordered on May 1 to spend four months in prison in the US for failures that allowed cybercriminals and terrorist groups to freely trade on its platform. Binance in November agreed to pay $4.3 billion to resolve the US allegations.



In Nigeria, the confrontation led to the arrest of two of its staff after they returned in late February for further talks. One of them fled, but Tigran Gambaryan has been jailed at the Kuje correctional centre in Abuja and will go on trial this month to face charges of tax evasion, currency speculation and money laundering.



Teng said Gambaryan and his colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla, who later escaped from custody, were given repeated assurances they would be granted safe passage.



“To invite a company’s mid-level employees for collaborative policy meetings, only to detain them, has set a dangerous new precedent for all companies worldwide,” he said.

source: https://saharareporters.com/2024/05/07/nigerian-government-officials-demanded-over-n207billion-bribe-make-charges-against

this is not bribe, Nigeria are claiming fortify amount of over 200b.

Nigeria is losing its respect and face steadily due to incidents like these

fuckJones:
this is not bribe, Nigeria are claiming fortify amount of over 200b.

what then is it if not bribe?🤨

"...without revealing the identities of those involved."

Nonsense!

Your lawyer has proof of people trying to EXTORT you and you chose to run instead of calling them out and suing them?

It's either these guys are lying or just DUMB.

Both guys are nationals of First World countries that are big on freedom and defending their citizens. If they had proof of the extortion, they'd be home free.

Concealing the identities of the people who put you under arrest in a bid to extort you is just DUMB.

Lol.

COMRADES, this is not a lie, my number one suspect is Nuhu Rubadu/NSA
And naso the case fo just die!

Anything is possible under a regime run by a notorious narcotics drug trafficker engaging in criminal state capture.

Did one of the Binance executives truly escape as was alleged, or was it a case whereby money exchanged hands?

I knew it will surely come to this point…

After holding them for a period of time and the news has been overtaken by new shocking news the same authorities holding them will collect their share and release them quietly giving the media something to write about and over some few days it all fades away as usual…

Another circle of corruption begins again

Watch how EFCC will pretend this is about Ghana or south Africa. This people better act or get out

I can't doubt this claim. Maybe one of the conditions, on FG part was the secret release of one of the guys, while Binance will pay. I can't see how a suspect could escape from the custody of the NSA and took flight, through the airport to an unknown destination.

This beats all logical reasoning.

This is nothing but the truth.

They should continue with their criminal blackmail. They obviously don't know Mallam Nuhu Ribadu. Smh.

Ribadu will squeeze them ehn. You see that their fugitive they facilitated his criminal escape from Nigeria will be brought back to Nigeria to face the justice system.

The Nigerian government's demand has been very simple; provide the list of your top users so that our tax and intelligence authorities can vet them. Instead of providing the information they are busy paying media agencies to blackmail Nigeria. Since they claim to be innocent, they should go and prove their innocence in the criminal trial court.
They will be held accountable for their financial crimes and use of their platform for money laundering and funding terrorists and kidnappers.

May God bless Nigeria for ever! Check my signature for free stuffs!

victory36:
what then is it if not bribe?🤨

It is called "chop I chop" abi na statistics we go chop?