On a visit to Nigeria in January, Tigran Gambaryan, a compliance officer for the large cryptocurrency alternate Binance, obtained an unsettling message: The corporate had 48 hours to make a cost of roughly $150 million in crypto.
Mr. Gambaryan, a former U.S. regulation enforcement agent, understood the message as a request for a bribe from somebody within the Nigerian authorities, in line with 5 folks accustomed to the matter and messages reviewed by The New York Instances. He and a gaggle of his Binance colleagues had simply met with Nigerian legislators, who accused the corporate of tax violations and threatened to arrest its staff.
The Binance officers fled Nigeria in a panic. Later that month, Mr. Gambaryan wrote a three-page report describing the cost request and gave it to Binance’s legal professionals, two folks accustomed to the report mentioned. He additionally alerted contacts within the Nigerian authorities, the folks mentioned, and recounted the incident to them.
The episode was the backdrop for a second journey to Nigeria that Mr. Gambaryan took in February. On his return, he and a colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, have been arrested by the Nigerian authorities, setting off a disaster at Binance.
Mr. Gambaryan has been held in Kuje jail in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, for the final 4 weeks, after he was transferred there from a authorities compound on April 8. His case is the newest authorized headache for Binance, which agreed to a $4.3 billion high quality final yr to settle fees by the U.S. authorities that it allowed felony exercise to flourish on its platform. In April, the corporate’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, was sentenced to 4 months in jail for his position in these violations.
The Nigerian authorities have charged each Binance and Mr. Gambaryan with tax evasion and cash laundering. Binance has denied that Mr. Gambaryan had any “decision-making energy” within the firm.
“The message from the Nigerian authorities is obvious,” Binance’s chief government, Richard Teng, wrote in a weblog submit on Tuesday. “We should detain an harmless, mid-level worker and a former U.S. federal agent, and place him in a harmful jail with a purpose to management Binance.”
Zakari Mijinyawa, a spokesman for Nigeria’s nationwide safety adviser, mentioned in a textual content that the Nigerian authorities would make its case “on the energy of the info and proof, in accordance with due course of.”
“We’re assured that Nigeria has a superb case,” Mr. Mijinyawa mentioned. “Binance equally could have each alternative beneath the rule of regulation to make its case and see justice delivered.”
Within the weblog submit, Mr. Teng laid out the historical past of Binance’s engagement with Nigeria, which has turn out to be a sizzling spot for the crypto trade. It has the second-highest rate of crypto adoption on this planet behind India, in line with Chainalysis, an information agency.
In 2023, Nigerian monetary regulators issued a press release directing Binance to cease soliciting buyers in Nigeria. Binance halted its promoting within the nation and provided to fulfill with authorities officers, Mr. Teng mentioned.
However tensions continued to escalate. Over current months, Nigerian officers have argued that buying and selling on Binance contributed to the collapse of the nation’s forex, the naira. And in December, a committee of the Nigerian Home of Representatives requested that Binance representatives seem for a listening to.
On Jan. 8, Mr. Gambaryan and a gaggle of Binance staff met with these lawmakers. Quickly the assembly turned contentious: The lawmakers learn aloud a listing of accusations towards Binance, together with tax violations. Additionally they threatened to pursue an arrest warrant for Mr. Teng, the weblog submit mentioned.
Because the Binance staff left the assembly, Mr. Teng wrote, they have been approached by “unknown individuals” who advised that they make a cost to settle the allegations. Later, a neighborhood lawyer representing Binance spoke with somebody purporting to be an agent of the Home committee, Mr. Teng wrote.
The purported agent demanded “a big cost in cryptocurrency to be paid in secret inside 48 hours to make these points go away,” Mr. Teng wrote. The quantity was roughly $150 million, 4 folks accustomed to the matter mentioned.
“Our crew grew more and more involved about their security in Nigeria and instantly departed,” Mr. Teng wrote in his submit. “We, in fact, declined the cost demand by way of our counsel, not viewing it to be a legit settlement supply.”
After he left Nigeria in January, Mr. Gambaryan mentioned the incident with colleagues and circulated his report describing the cost request, two folks accustomed to the matter mentioned.
Later that month, Mr. Gambaryan started establishing conferences with Nigerian safety and monetary crimes enforcement officers. On the time, he famous that senior leaders on the monetary crimes workplace have been keen to debate what had occurred in the course of the Jan. 8 assembly, an individual accustomed to the conversations mentioned.
In a textual content message final month, Dele Oyewale, a spokesman for Nigeria’s monetary crimes fee, declined to touch upon the cost solicitation. He didn’t reply to a request for touch upon Monday.
In his submit on Tuesday, Mr. Teng wrote that Binance had obtained assurances that Mr. Gambaryan could be secure if he returned to Nigeria. An organization adviser with deep native connections advisable that Binance officers meet with the Nigerian nationwide safety adviser’s workplace, Mr. Teng wrote.
Mr. Gambaryan and Mr. Anjarwalla arrived for that assembly on Feb. 26. After a few hours of dialogue, Mr. Teng wrote, a Nigerian monetary crimes official took Mr. Gambaryan apart and informed him that “all the pieces was progressing properly.”
Then totally different Nigerian officers entered the room, demanding that Binance present granular details about its customers in Nigeria — a request the corporate was unwilling to fulfill. Mr. Gambaryan’s and Mr. Anjarwalla’s passports have been confiscated, and the 2 males have been held for 3 weeks in a safe compound. On March 22, their legal professionals obtained phrase that felony fees have been coming.
Mr. Anjarwalla escaped the subsequent day. He left Nigeria and has not spoken publicly since.
Mr. Gambaryan was alone within the compound. Shortly after he arrived, monetary crimes officers in Nigeria had despatched a word to the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, in line with a duplicate of the message seen by The Instances.
“You will need to emphasize that Mr. Tigran is at present having a dialogue with our crew and the intent of his keep is solely for the aim of constructive dialogue,” the letter mentioned. “We guarantee you that the person is taking part willingly.”
Mr. Gambaryan was quickly transferred to Kuje, a infamous facility the place the Islamic State staged a jail break in 2022.
A trial was scheduled to start final Thursday, however the court docket postponed it till Might 17.
Julian E. Barnes and Glenn Thrush contributed reporting from Washington, and Sunday Isuwa from Abuja, Nigeria.
