Nigeria sets dangerous precedent by detaining Binance execs, CEO says

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The Binance logo [Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters]

The CEO of Binance criticized Nigeria for detaining two of its executives during a visit to the country, alleging that it sets a troubling precedent. The executives are facing trials related to tax evasion and money laundering, charges that Binance is contesting. CEO Richard Teng highlighted the case of Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen and Binance's head of financial crime compliance, whose detention he deems unjust.

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, finds itself embroiled in legal battles following the detention of its executives in Nigeria. The company is contesting allegations of tax evasion and money laundering against two of its executives, while its CEO, Richard Teng, speaks out against what he sees as unfair treatment of one of the detained individuals, Tigran Gambaryan. This situation underscores the complexities and challenges faced by cryptocurrency exchanges operating in various regulatory environments worldwide.

In a statement by Richard Teng, 

"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,"

Nigerian authorities had in February after a follow-up meeting on the 26th, demanded that Binance should delist naira on its platform and also provide details of all Nigerian users. Binance. 

Binance had delisted naira from its platforms and stopped all trading activities involving the naira. 

Following the move, Richard said "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,"

"We will continue engagement with Nigeria's Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on resolving potential historic tax liabilities,".

In a similar post on his X handle


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