Former US IRS agent among Binance staff detained in Nigeria

The Nigerian government reportedly obtained a court warrant to detain Binance officials for at least twelve days after they insisted they should be taken to their respective countries’ embassies, local media outlet Premium Times reported on Mar. 12.

Detained officials identified

Recently, the Nigerian government accused Binance of aggravating the country’s foreign exchange challenges by manipulating rates for profit. Consequently, Nigerian authorities restricted access to Binance’s official website and apprehended two top executives.

Earlier today, reports identified the detained executives as Tigran Gambaryan, a former special agent of the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Binance’s head of financial crime compliance, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, the regional manager for Binance Kenya. The two have been held in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, for two weeks without access to their passports.

At the government’s invitation, the officials had journeyed to Nigeria to address the ongoing issues surrounding Binance’s operations in the African country.

However, rather than engaging in constructive dialogue, Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were reportedly escorted from their hotels, instructed to pack their belongings, and relocated to a guesthouse managed by Nigeria’s National Security Agency.

Binance’s response

Binance told CryptoSlate that it is collaborating with the Nigerian authorities to secure the release of its detained executives, according to a Mar. 12 e-mail statement.

The Richard Teng-led exchange said:

“While it is inappropriate for us to comment on the substance of the claims at this time, we can say that we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to bring Nadeem and Tigran back home safely to their families. They are professionals with the highest integrity, and we will provide them all the support we can. We trust there will be a swift resolution to this matter.”

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