The CEO of prominent cryptocurrency platform Binance, Richard Teng, unveiled in a blog post on Tuesday that undisclosed individuals in Nigeria sought substantial payments in digital currency to resolve the company’s challenges in the country.
The revelation comes in the wake of the detention of two senior Binance executives by the Nigerian government on February 28. Nadeem Anjarwalla and Tigran Gambaryan were held as part of an investigation into alleged illegal operations and forex rate manipulations.
Teng detailed Binance’s efforts to engage with Nigerian authorities, citing a meeting in Abuja on January 8, where the company faced criminal accusations.
He said that despite repeated requests, Binance did not receive specifics of the allegations, prompting concerns about the fairness of the process.
Teng said, “There were a number of reasons for that, including the sensitivity of the information and getting the opportunity to see the allegations in full and prepare a thorough substantive response.”
“The meeting ended with the Chair confirming they would consider the matter and revert through Binance’s local counsel.
“However, 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.
“Later that day, our local counsel — representing us at that time — was summoned by the Committee through someone purporting to be their agent, who relayed the Committee’s terms and instructed our local counsel to advise us.
“Counsel reported back that he had been presented with a demand for a significant payment in cryptocurrency to be paid in secret within 48 hours to make these issues go away and that our decision was expected by the morning.
“Our team grew increasingly concerned about their safety in Nigeria and immediately departed.”
The Binance CEO however revealed that the request for payment was declined because it was not seen to be a “legitimate settlement offer”.
According to Teng, Binance made it clear that it would only negotiate a settlement after viewing the pertinent petition or the specifics of all the accusations. Any settlement “must be official, recorded in writing, and signed by all relevant parties,” he added.
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
Follow us on:
