Alleged $150m bribe: Binance using diversionary tactics to avoid prosecution — FG

Following allegations of bribery levelled by Binance Chief Executive Officer Richard Teng against the Nigerian Government, the Federal Government has described the allegation as a diversionary tactic to avoid prosecution.

Making the allegations in a blog post published by the New York Times on Tuesday, Tigran Gambaryan, a compliance officer with the exchange, claimed to have received an unsettling message on a trip to Nigeria in January.

“On a trip to Nigeria in January, Tigran Gambaryan, a compliance officer for the giant cryptocurrency exchange Binance, received an unsettling message: The company had 48 hours to make a payment of roughly $150 million in crypto,” the report said.

“Mr. Gambaryan, a former U.S. law enforcement agent, understood the message as a request for a bribe from someone in the Nigerian government, according to five people familiar with the matter and messages reviewed by The New York Times. He and a group of his Binance colleagues had just met with Nigerian legislators, who accused the company of tax violations and threatened to arrest its employees.”

It was gathered that the incident allegedly took place before Gambaryan and a colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were arrested and detained on the orders of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu. Anjarwalla subsequently escaped and has been traced to Kenya.

Since April 8, Gambaryan has been transferred from a safe house to the Kuje Correctional Centre Abuja. Both Binance and Gambaryan are prosecuted by the Federal Government for tax evasion and money laundering.

In his response, the spokesman for the Office of the National Security Adviser, Zakari Mijinyawa, assured that the Federal Government will follow due process.

Mijinyawa, according to a text sent to New York Times said the government would make its case “on the strength of the facts and evidence, in accordance with due process.”

“We are confident that Nigeria has a good case. Binance equally will have every opportunity under the rule of law to make its case and see justice delivered,” Mijinyawa said.

Likewise, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris in a statement accused the company of blackmail.

According to the statement written by Idris, “The Federal Government of Nigeria is aware of attempts by Binance to launder its impaired image as an organisation that does not play by the rules and laws guiding business conduct in sovereign nations.

“In a blog post that has now been published by many international media organisations, in an apparent well-coordinated public relations effort, Binance Chief Executive Officer Richard Teng made false allegations of bribery against unidentified Nigerian government officials who he claimed demanded $150m in cryptocurrency payments to resolve the ongoing criminal investigation against the company.

“This claim by Binance CEO lacks any iota of substance. It is nothing but a diversionary tactic and an attempted act of blackmail by a company desperate to obfuscate the grievous criminal charges it is facing in Nigeria.

“The facts of this matter remain that Binance is being investigated in Nigeria for allowing its platform to be used for money laundering, terrorism financing, and foreign exchange manipulation through illegal trading.

“While this lawful investigation was going on, an executive of Binance, who was in court-sanctioned protective custody, escaped from Nigeria, and he is now a fugitive from the law. Working with the security agencies in Nigeria, Interpol is currently executing an international arrest warrant on the said fugitive.

“The phantom bribe claim is part of an orchestrated international campaign by this company that is facing criminal prosecution in many countries including the United States, to undermine the Nigerian government.

“Just a week ago, the founder and former CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, was sentenced to prison in the United States, after pleading guilty to charges very similar to what Binance is being investigated for in Nigeria. In addition, Zhao agreed to pay a fine of $50 million, while Binance is liable for $4.3 billion in fines and forfeitures to the US Government.

“We would like to remind Binance that it will not clear its name in Nigeria by resorting to fictional claims and mudslinging media campaigns. The only way to resolve its issues will be by submitting itself to unobstructed investigation and judicial due process.

“The government of Nigeria will continue to act within its laws and international norms and will not succumb to any form of blackmail from any entity, local or foreign,” he wrote.