Before Tigran Gambrayan, a Binance compliance officer, got arrested in February, Nigerian officials reportedly wanted $150 million in cryptocurrency, as a bribe, says a New York Times report.
The officials gave Gambrayan and his colleague 48 hours to pay up after a meeting. Gambrayan left Nigeria quickly and shared details of the demand with Binance’s legal team and contacts in the Nigerian government.
A month later, Gambrayan and his colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla returned to Nigeria, but they were soon arrested for tax evasion and money laundering. Anjarwalla escaped custody before the trial in March.
Nigerian officials also threatened to arrest Richard Teng, Binance’s CEO.
The arrest of Gambrayan and Anjarwalla triggered a response in Nigeria, leading the country to label crypto a “national security” issue. Binance has left Nigeria, and its website is blocked there.
Since then, Nigerian authorities have cracked down on cryptocurrencies, suspecting traders of manipulating the country’s exchange rate through centralised exchanges. The SEC warned crypto traders to stop peer-to-peer trading on crypto platforms.
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