Binance Head of Financial Crime Compliance, Tigran Gambaryan, has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to mandate the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to issue an apology to him regarding his detention in the country.
Gambaryan revealed this in a lawsuit, where he claimed that the federal government is employing his prolonged detention ‘as leverage to continue making demands on Binance.’
Through his lawyer, Gambaryan clarified to the court that he is an American citizen who traveled to Nigeria on February 26 2024, accompanied by Nadeem Anjarwalla. Their visit was solely to attend a meeting with government officials, namely Mr. Saad Abubakar of the NSA and Mr. Olalekan Ogunjobi of the EFCC, upon invitation as representatives of Binance.
“The only reason for his detention is because the government is requesting information from Binance and making demands on the company. The Applicant is not a member of the Board of Directors of Binance,” said Gambaryan’s laywer to the court.
“The only reason for the continued detention of the Applicant by the Respondents is merely for the purpose of being used as leverage to continue making demands on Binance. The Respondents, being agents of the Federal Government of Nigeria, have a channel of communication to request for information and make demands on Binance without the necessity of detaining the Applicant, who only dutifully attended a meeting with the Respondents.”
Gambaryan wants the Nigerian court to release him from his detention and grant him his international travel passport, in addition to an apology from the Nigerian authorities.
“An order of this Honourable Court directing the Respondents to release the Applicant from their Custody and return his international travel passport with immediate effect.
An order for the Respondents to Issue a public apology to the applicant.”
Gambaryan’s colleague, Anjarwalla, is thought to have fled the country according to local reports, with the government involving Interpol in a manhunt for the British-Kenyan citizen.
🇳🇬REGULATION | Nigeria Contacts Interpol for an International Arrest Warrant Over Escaped Binance Regional Manager
"We were made aware that Nadeem is no longer in Nigerian custody. Our primary focus remains on the safety of our employees and we are working collaboratively with… pic.twitter.com/GhP7NxjVvc
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) March 26, 2024
T.J. Krukrubo, SAN, the lawyer representing Gambaryan also withdrew his legal representation of the fleeing Binance Executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla.
Authorities have blamed Binance for a rising exchange rate while also accusing it of benefitting from ‘illegal transactions.’ The government reportedly imposed a $10 billion fine on the company, according to a presidential aide.
🇳🇬
‘I Said Our Government May Impose Heavy Fines on #Binance . . . I Never Said it Would Definitely Be $10 Billion,’ Says Nigerian Government Official“Binance platform harbors people who fix the exchange rate which quickly affects the Nigerian economy for the time when… pic.twitter.com/WDf42PUgwN
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) March 2, 2024
Follow us on Twitter for the latest posts and updates
Join and interact with our Telegram community
________________________________________
________________________________________
