The CEO of Binance, a major cryptocurrency exchange, criticized Nigeria’s actions after the detention of its executives, alleging it sets a concerning precedent. Binance, renowned as the world’s largest crypto exchange, finds itself embroiled in legal battles over tax evasion and money laundering allegations in Nigeria. CEO Richard Teng raised concerns over the detention of Tigran Gambaryan, a Binance executive, emphasizing the need to address the situation. Another executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who serves as a regional manager for Africa, left Nigeria earlier this year. Teng disclosed that Binance executives initially engaged with Nigerian authorities in January, with subsequent meetings indicating national security concerns. Authorities demanded the delisting of Nigeria’s currency from Binance’s platform and requested granular-level” details on all Nigerian users, he said. Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were subsequently detained.
“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,” Teng said, in his strongest comments yet since the case started in February.
Gambaryan was being held in Nigeria for more than two months “for spurious reasons,” Teng said.
Binance announced in early March it was stopping all transactions and trading in naira
“Our hope when we took this drastic step was that our colleagues would be released and Binance could continue to work with the Nigerian government to resolve any further concerns. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen,” said Ten.
He said Gambaryan should be allowed to go home while Binance and Nigerian authorities resolve any issues.
“We will continue engagement with Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on resolving potential historic tax liabilities,” he said.