Tigran Gambaryan, head of financial crime compliance at Binance, has reiterated the claim that rogue Nigerian lawmakers demanded $150 million in exchange for dropping the case against the cryptocurrency exchange. According to Gambaryan, the lawmakers, who wanted their funds transferred directly into their cryptocurrency wallets, used “fake cameras and media” to make the meeting with visiting Binance executives appear legitimate.

As reported by Bitcoin.com News in May 2024, Binance CEO Richard Teng similarly accused members of Nigeria’s House Committee on Financial Crimes (HCFC) of soliciting a $150 million bribe. At the time, Nigerian Information Minister Mohammed Idris rejected the allegations, calling them a diversionary tactic by the company “desperate to obfuscate the grievous criminal charges it is facing.”

However, in his Feb. 14 post, Gambaryan insisted that the attempt was indeed made with the involvement of the Department of State Services (DSS). Addressing the Nigerian government’s allegation that Binance had spirited $26 billion out of the country, Gambaryan stated that this claim was simply not true. He said:

The $26 billion figure they kept pushing publicly as some mystery money escaping Nigeria is complete BS. This information was provided in response to their request and was simply cumulative trade data for Nigerians on the platform. This money didn’t leave Nigeria—it was just people buying and selling crypto. For example, if you trade $100 a hundred times, that’s $10,000 in trade volume, but in reality, you only used $100. Again, just another example of them lying to cover up their BS investigation.

Just after Gambaryan shared the explosive details of Binance’s encounter the West Affican country’s politicians and government officials, the Nigerian Information Minister released his own statement urging residents to ignore the falsehoods peddled by the Binance employee. While the statement acknowledges the bribery claim, Idris said it was the Nigerian government that initiated an investigation “though there was no formal complaint by anyone.”

Idris’ statement also revealed that his government had rejected the U.S. offer to pay $5 million to secure Gambaryan’s release.

“The [Nigeria] government rejected Binance’s offer of a $5 million down payment in exchange for Mr. Gambaryan’s freedom, in favour of a more beneficial settlement with the American government,” the statement adds.

The minister also claimed that Gambaryan’s unsubstantiated allegations exposed his motive to discredit and intimidate those who ensured he faced justice.

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