The CEO of Binance, Richard Teng, has spoken out against the detention of the company’s executives in Nigeria, labelling it a “dangerous precedent” for companies globally.
Teng expressed his concerns in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, breaking his silence on the ongoing detention of Tigran Gambaryan, a US citizen and Binance’s head of financial crime compliance, News About Nigeria reports.
“To invite a company’s mid-level employees for collaborative policy meetings, only to detain them, has set a dangerous new precedent for all companies worldwide,” Teng said.
Teng stated that Gambaryan had been detained in Nigeria for over two months “on dubious grounds.”
He said Gambaryan should be permitted to return home while Binance and the Nigerian authorities settle any disputes.
Gambaryan and another executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, are facing individual trials on charges of tax evasion and money laundering, which Binance is challenging.
Anjarwalla escaped lawful custody and fled Nigeria using a smuggled passport, according to the office of Nigeria’s National Security Adviser.
Teng stated that the executives first met with Nigerian authorities in January 2024. At a follow-up meeting on February 26, the Nigerian authorities demanded that Binance delist the naira currency from its platform and provide “granular-level” details on all Nigerian users, citing national security concerns.
In obedience, Binance halted all transactions and trading in naira in early March, hoping for the release of its colleagues and a resolution to the dispute.
Recall that 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 were on February 28 detained over charge of financial crime compliance at Binance.
Both executives had visited Nigeria following the crackdown on various cryptocurrency trading platforms by authorities. They are apprehended by the Office of the National Security Adviser with their passports confiscated.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) eventually filed legal proceedings against Binance, alleging four instances of tax evasion. Recently, the Federal High Court has adjourned the case against the company and its executives to May 17.
