Nigerian authorities and Binance executive clash over bribery allegations

Nigerian authorities have denied the allegations by Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan that its officials asked for bribes, among other things. In a post, the government’s official X account described the allegations as misleading and defamatory.

According to a statement signed by the country’s minister of information and national orientation, Mohammed Idris, the public should disregard Gambaryan’s claims as they are unsubstantiated.

It said:

“We categorically deny the retaliatory claims made by Mr. Gambaryan against Nigerian officials involved in his case, and we urge the public to disregard these false accusations in their entirety.”

The government’s statement follows Gambaryan’s recent disclosure of his experience in Nigeria. Gambaryan claimed that legislators in the country demanded bribes from Binance representatives and denied allegations by the Nigerian authorities that crypto exchanges were manipulating the naira.

Nigerian government denies bribery claims

According to Gambaryan, the federal government’s monetary policy was responsible for the naira’s devaluation. However, he added that he is not criticizing the monetary policy but only stating its direct consequences. There is a pending case against Binance on this matter.

The Nigerian government detained Gambrayan, who led the financial crimes investigation unit of Binance, along with his colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla, in February after they came in for a meeting with the government. This detention ended up lasting until October, with Gambaryan charged to court even though Anjarwalla escaped

However, the statement claims that the government was not officially involved in Gambryan’s first trip to Nigeria and only got information about the allegations of bribery later, leading it to open an investigation. It acknowledged that the second trip was part of a criminal probe into how Binance manipulated the Nigerian currency.

Meanwhile, Nigerian authorities claimed that Binance wanted to offer $5 million in down payment to get Gambaryan released, but the government did not accept. Instead, it reached a diplomatic agreement with the US government to release him on humanitarian grounds, which is more beneficial.

Beyond denying Gambaryan’s allegations as baseless, the statement added that the Binance executive has the opportunity to prove his allegations in court, and until he does that, the public should “not be swayed by the unfounded and malicious claims.”

Gambaryan responds to Nigerian government statement

Meanwhile, Gambrayan slammed the Nigerian government’s statement in his reply on X, noting that the government has always been involved since Day 1. He claimed that his first trip to Nigeria was on the invitation of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), which is part of the government.

He added that he also met with House members, and the legislature is a branch of the government. However, he highlighted how the final meeting leading to his detention was meant to be a friendly meeting.

He said:

“You said the second part was part of a probe? Lol. So when you invited us to a friendly meeting, you even lied about that?”

Gambaryan also criticized the claims that there was an investigation or he was deploying any tactic. According to him, no one took his statement, and he was charged to court and subjected to defamatory treatment and near-death experience without any evidence.

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