Nigerian officers allegedly requested for $150 million bribe earlier than arresting Binance workers

One month earlier than Tigran Gambrayan, a compliance officer for the worldwide cryptocurrency trade Binance, was arrested in February, he was requested by Nigerian officers to pay $150 million in crypto, in keeping with a report from the New York Occasions. The report recommended that the cash was a bribe. 

Gambrayan and his colleague Nadeem Anjarwallar got 48 hours to make that cost after assembly with Nigerian legislators. Following the cost request, Gamabaryan left Nigeria hurriedly and shared a three-page doc describing the request with Binance legal professionals and the corporate’s contacts within the Nigerian authorities. 

He got here again to Nigeria a month later with Nadeem Anjarwalla, his colleague at Binance. That was the final time each Binance workers have been free males after they have been arrested in February for tax evasion and cash laundering expenses. Anjarwalla fled an Abuja resort the place he was held earlier than the trial in March. 

Nigerian officers additionally threatened to arrest Richard Teng, the CEO of Binance. 

The arrest of Gambrayan and Anjarwalla set off a collection of occasions in Nigeria after the nation declared crypto a “nationwide safety” concern. Binance has since left the nation as the corporate’s web site has been blocked in Nigeria.

Since then, Nigerian authorities have clamped down on cryptocurrencies as they consider that crypto merchants use centralised exchanges to govern the nation’s trade charge. The SEC additionally instructed crypto merchants on Monday that they need to cease peer-to-peer buying and selling on crypto platforms.