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FG Denies Binance CEO’s $150million Bribery Allegations …Vows To Pursue Criminal Case Against Officials
The Nigerian government has denied the $150million bribery allegations made by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of global cryptocurrency trading platform, Binance Holdings Ltd, Richard Teng.
The Nigerian government which made the denial on Tuesday also vowed to pursue the criminal case against Binance and its officials to an end.
It had been reported how Teng alleged that Nigerian authorities demanded the sum of $150million in cryptocurrency as a bribe to make the money laundering trial initiated against two of its executives go away.
Recall that Binance, its officials Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen and head of financial crime and Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British Kenyan, are facing trial for laundering more than $35 million.
The suit was filed by Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Bloomberg reports that Binance Chief Executive Officer Richard Teng made the claim in a blog on Monday, detailing how the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange tried to engage with Nigerian authorities, including having a meeting which was held in Abuja on January 8, 2024.
“As our employees were leaving the venue, they were approached by unknown persons who suggested to them to make a payment in settlement of the allegations,” Teng wrote.
After that incident, Binance’s lawyer was “presented with a demand for a significant payment in cryptocurrency to be paid in secret within 48 hours to make these issues go away,” Teng wrote.
The amount in question was $150 million (N207,304,500,000), the New York Times reported separately, without revealing the identities of those involved.
Denying the bribery allegations, the spokesman for the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Zakari Mijinyawa, reportedly said in a text message to NYT that the Nigerian government would make its case “on the strength of the facts and evidence, in accordance with due process.”
Mijinyawa further said, “We are confident that Nigeria has a good case. Binance equally will have every opportunity under the rule of law to make its case and see justice delivered.”
The Binance CEO had said, “Our team grew increasingly concerned about their safety in Nigeria and immediately departed. We, of course, declined the payment demand via our counsel, not viewing it to be a legitimate settlement offer.”
Teng also claimed that Binance had received assurances that Gambaryan would be safe if he returned to Nigeria.
Corroborating the government’s denial of the allegation, a prosecutor with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ekele Iheanacho, dismissed Teng’s bribery allegation, and vowed that the agency would prosecute the case to the end.
Iheanacho was quoted as saying that “Nobody demanded any money, the case is being taken to a logical conclusion. He’s making it up although I am not aware of any such allegations. As far as I am concerned, the charges are going on and we are making every effort to ensure that we get to a logical end.’’
(c) Saharareporters.
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