Binance CEO Richard Teng has called for the release of exchange executive Tigran Gambaryan from Nigeria, where he has been detained. detained for more than 70 days.
In a blog postTeng said Gambaryan's detention “has set a dangerous new precedent for all businesses around the world,” adding that he “is innocent and must be released.”
Gambaryan, the exchange's head of financial crime compliance, was arrested in February by Nigerian authorities alongside his colleague, Binance regional director for Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla. The two men had traveled to the country to liaise with officials as they conducted an investigation. investigation in crypto exchanges.
The two Binance executives were initially detained without charge under the terms of a court orderbefore Anjarwalla escaped what Teng called “illegal detention”. The pair, along with the exchange, were later accused with Nigeria's Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) tax evasion, while Gambaryan was transferred in a prison run by the country's anti-corruption agency.
According to local media, Nigeria requests Anjarwalla's extradition; a spokesperson for his wife afterwards claims that reports of his arrest in Kenya are false.
In his blog post, Teng pointed out that Gambaryan was visiting Nigeria as a “functional expert on financial crime and capacity building in policy discussions”, and did not visit the country as a as “decision maker” nor “negotiator”. “
The Binance CEO also published a detailed analysis of the exchange's activities in Nigeria over the past two years, as well as its negotiations with Nigerian lawmakers and regulators.
Nigeria is currently undergoing a currency crisiswhich Teng said had been attributed by local authorities to Binance's activities in the country.
In addition to objecting to these claims, he claimed that Gambaryan, an “innocent mid-level employee,” was being held in “a dangerous prison in order to control Binance.” Gambaryan has for follow-up the Nigerian government for violating his basic human rights.
Teng claimed that Gambaryan and Anjarwalla had “received multiple assurances that they would be given safe passage for their meetings” and that during a “hostile” meeting, members of the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) demanded that the exchange remove the Nigerian naira from its platform and “provide granular details of all Nigerian users.”
After their detention, Teng said, Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were subjected to “aggressive behavior” and were personally accused of “bearing responsibility for the state of the naira and the economy in general”, as well as allegations of terrorist financing and money laundering.
Decrypt has contacted the EFCC for comment and will update this article if they respond.
As a “gesture of good faith,” Teng said Binance had written off the naira and deactivated its P2P product for Nigerian users, and urged the country's authorities to release Gambaryan and continue his “engagement” in the exchange on tax obligations and cooperation with law enforcement.
“I hope my next update will be one where our employees are safe at home with their families,” Teng added.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.