Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platform, has labelled the detention of the company’s executives in Nigeria as a “dangerous precedent” for companies globally.
The company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Richard Teng stated this to Reuters on Tuesday.
According to him, it was time to break silence on the ongoing detention of Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen and Binance head of financial crime compliance.
Binance and two of its executives, Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, are facing individual trials on charges of tax evasion and money laundering, which the firm is challenging.
Anjarwalla escaped lawful custody, and “fled Nigeria using a smuggled passport”, the office of Nigeria’s National Security Adviser said in a statement.
On his part, Binance CEO said the executives first held meetings with Nigerian authorities in the country in January 2024. He said on February 26, the Nigerian authorities at a follow-up meeting said the issues involving Binance were of national security and demanded that the exchange delist the Naira currency from its platform and provide “granular-level” details on all Nigerian users.
Teng stated that Gambaryan had been detained in Nigeria for over two months “on dubious grounds.” In early March, Binance declared that it was halting 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 Teng.
He stated that Gambaryan should be permitted to return home while Binance and Nigerian authorities settle any disputes.
On February 28, Nairametrics reported that 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 Office of the National Security Adviser and their passports were confiscated.
In response to the detention of its executives, Binance discontinued the trading of the naira against bitcoin and tether cryptocurrencies on its exchange. Meanwhile, on March 24, a statement from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) confirmed that one of the executives, Anjarwalla subsequently escaped from lawful custody.
The Briton, who also has Kenyan citizenship, is believed to have flown out of Abuja using a Middle East airliner. It remains unclear how Mr Anjarwalla got on an international flight despite his British passport, with which he entered Nigeria, remaining in the custody of the Nigerian authorities.
However, the Nigerian government said it is discussing with Interpol to secure an international arrest warrant for Anjarwalla and extradite him to Nigeria.
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