The Chief executive officer of binance, Mr. Richard Teng have accused Nigeria of some shady practices involved in the detainment of Binance officials in Nigeria.
According to report gotten from New York times, Mr Teng claimed in a blog post that unknown persons had approached binance employees suggesting that they make a payment of $150 million dollars within 48 hours “to make the issues go away”. This payment was also to be paid in cryptocurrency.
Why it matters
Nigeria have been taking measures to combat illicit transactions within the country, which have given rise to some proactive steps in ensuring that fruadulent transactions are curbed to the barest minimum
However, the recent allegations made by binance against Nigeria spurs us in a different direction and raises the question on whether the cracking down on binance operations was a foul play to extort money from the firm who is know to be a highly profiting organisation.
Could this be the doing of the government or an act of unscrupulous persons within the system?
Context and background
On February 28, Nigeria officials detained two senior Binance executives: Nadeem Anjarwalla, a 37-year-old British-Kenyan who serves as the regional manager for Africa, and Tigran Gambaryan, a 39-year-old American in charge of financial crime compliance at Binance.
- The executives visited Nigeria in response to the country’s recent crackdown on various cryptocurrency trading platforms.
- During their stay, they were apprehended by the ONSA and their passports were confiscated.
- Mr Teng relayed that this was the second meeting Binance was having with Nigerian authorities, he noted that the first meeting was held with Nigerian lawmakers who accused binance of tax violation and threatened to detain the employees
- Due to this unsettling development, binance officials fled the country in panic for their safety and at this time was the request for purported bribe payment made, which the company refused through its local legal representative.
- Mr Teng also expressed on his blog post that the officials were later lured back into the country by a request for meeting with Nigerian security and financial crimes enforcement officials, on an assurance that the officials would be safe if they returned to Nigeria.
- He also noted that hours into the meeting, a Nigerian financial crime official gave assurance to Mr. Gambaryan that “everything was progressing well”.
However, the unfortunate happened when the two Binance officials were detained and their passports confiscated.
This was contrary to the earlier information given to the US embassy through a letter by officials from the EFCC, which noted that “Mr. Tigran is currently having a discussion with our team and the intent of his stay is purely for the purpose of constructive dialogue,” the letter said. “We assure you that the individual is participating willingly.”
What they are saying?
- Mr Teng is soliciting for the release of the detained binance official while suggesting that his detainment is illegal. He claims that the charges of tax evasion against Mr. Gambaryan was false since he, Mr. Gambaryan, have no “decision-making power” in the company
- He also clamied that Nigeria is detaining “an innocent, mid-level employee and a former U.S. federal agent” placing him in a “dangerous prison” in order to control Binance.
- Zakari Mijinyawa, a spokesman for Nigeria’s national security adviser, replied in a text that the Nigerian government would make its case “on the strength of the facts and evidence, in accordance with due process.”
- And that Binance “will have every opportunity under the rule of law to make its case and see justice delivered.”
However, Dele Oyewale, a spokesman for Nigeria’s financial crimes commission, have refused to comment on the matter.
Bottom Line
Criticisms have followed the crackdown of binance operations and the detainment of its employees in Nigeria, which the government have responded to be a necessary measure for the wellbeing of the country’s currency.
However, this new information raises questions as to the hidden mysteries in the allegations against Binance
