Tigran Gambaryan, an executive at Binance, has talked candidly about his experience being detained in Nigeria. Gambaryan was taken into custody by the nation’s law enforcement in January 2024. He stated in a lengthy social media post that the experience included dubious transactions, global tensions, and Nigeria’s National Security Advisor, Nuhu Ribadu.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
Gambaryan claims that a number of MPs organized a meeting and wanted a bribe of $150 million, to be deposited into their personal accounts in cryptocurrencies. “The DSS was involved in the House of Representatives matter,” Gambaryan wrote. Prior to our meeting with the House of Representatives, we had a meeting with them at their office on Friday, January 5, 2024. They hinted that we were required to do whatever the House members asked us to do.
Three members were present at the House meeting. Under Ginger Obinna Onwusibe’s direction, two of them were Philip Agbese and Peter Akpanke. I can’t remember the name of the third House member. “To give the impression that the meeting was legitimate, they set up phony cameras and media, but the cameras weren’t even turned on. They ultimately demanded a $150 million bribe, which was delivered in cryptocurrencies into their personal accounts, as you may already be aware. An excellent example of a Mickey Mouse enterprise.
We were invited to the formal meeting by @NuhuRibadu, who arranged for Sa’ad Abubakar. Another important player in this case was Hamma Adama Belloji. Ogunjobi was also used; he was merely a pawn. “This was presented as a cordial meeting with the CBN governor, the head of the SEC, and the NSA, and it covered the bribe that the House of Representatives had requested.”It’s all nonsense that they continued claiming in public that $26 billion was departing Nigeria in the form of mystery money. They requested this information, which was merely cumulative trading data for Nigerians using the platform. This was merely people buying and trading cryptocurrency; the money didn’t leave Nigeria.
For instance, if you trade $100 a hundred times, your transaction volume is $10,000, but you actually only used $100. Another instance of them lying to hide their phony probe. They made up the story that Nadeem had escaped during prayers at the mosque. In fact, he later came back and fled. I have no idea how he was able to escape. We haven’t talked about the specifics of his escape, but he sent me an email in November. He might have bought someone off, but I don’t have any evidence.
“Belloji would have known that Nadeem did not use that passport to travel to Nigeria if he had just looked it up for a visa.”They wrote to the British High Commission and the U.S. Embassy, pretending that we were willingly taking part in strategic discussions. This was an obvious falsehood.We were being held unlawfully; Nadeem did not escape from legitimate detention. Belloji even said that in order to get a court order to hold us for 14 days, he would manufacture evidence.They couldn’t get the judge to grant them an extension when the court order ended. They then proceeded to hold us unlawfully again without any explanation.
Much discussion centered on the use of Interpol to apprehend Nadeem. I can state with confidence that this was a prank because I have been engaged in several extradition cases. “Any reasonable judge in Kenya or anywhere else would never permit extradition for someone who escaped unlawful detention at the hands of rogue law enforcement, especially when that detention involved holding employees hostage to exert pressure on their employer. Extradition is a drawn-out legal process.” It’s all noise.
By requesting user data on all Nigerians in order to target opposition members who were allegedly “manipulating the price of the naira,” they attempted to use us to breach international privacy rules. They were all aware, meanwhile, that Tinubu’s monetary policy, which depegged the naira from the dollar, was the primary cause of the devaluation. “I’m not arguing that this policy choice was incorrect, but everyone knew that eliminating government involvement would result in sharp devaluation. Rather than admitting this, they made Binance the scapegoat. The federal authorities dropped the money laundering accusations against Gambaryan in October 2024.
In April 2024, Binance and Gambaryan were charged with money laundering by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). This came after the cryptocurrency company was clamped down for allegedly manipulating the naira. Remember how the Nigerian government and Binance were at odds after the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, said that $26 billion had been transferred through Binance covertly?
