- Two Binance executives are under the custody of the Nigerian authority for the past 2 weeks.
- Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla were invited by the Nigerian authority to discuss the prevailing crisis.
- The executives were arrested in Abuja without being informed about any legal charges against them.
According to a recent report, two senior executives of Binance, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, have been in the official custody of Nigerian authorities for the past two weeks.
Gambaryan, a US citizen, was previously a crypto investigator who led his team to probe into money laundering, dark-web drug dealing, and other crypto crimes, including crypto-funded child exploitation. Later, he joined Binance’s investigation team as Head of Financial Crime Compliance.
Meanwhile, Anjarwalla is Binance’s Kenya-based regional manager for Africa. He holds dual citizenship in the United Kingdom and Kenya.
As per their families, both Gambaryan and Anjarwalla reached Abuja in February 25, accepting the Nigerian government’ invitation. As reported, they were invited to discuss the country’s prevailing disputes with the exchange.
Their families asserted that neither Gambaryan nor Anjarwalla wasn’t informed of any criminal charges. Instead, following their first meeting with the officials, they were taken into the National Security Agency’s “guesthouse.” Since then, they were kept in confinement, seizing their passports. Gambaryan’s wife, Yuki Gambaryan, stated,
“There’s no definite answer for anything: how’s he’s doing, what’s going to happen to him, when he’s coming back. And not knowing that is killing me.”
A February 29 Financial Times report shared insights on the arrest of the two Binance executives without revealing their names. The report stated that the executives were detained as part of the allegations against Binance Nigeria, including $26 billion in illegal inflows.
While Nigeria has been facing the worst economic crisis in three decades, with its naira currency hitting record lows, the government has strengthened its defensive mechanisms. In addition, Nigeria has ordered Binance to submit information about the top 100 users in the country, along with the past six months’ transaction history.
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