The crypto company Binance has break silence over Tigran Gambaryan who is now being held in Nigeria, that is not apart of decision making in the company.
The crypto currency exchange emphasize that Gambaryan, is not a law enforcement officer and do not the ability to make decisions.
The statement was revealed to PUNCH on Wednesday.
Gambaryan and his colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla from Binance Holdings Limited, were arrested in Nigeria on suspicion of involvement in money laundering activities on February.
Among other charges, the firm and the two employees were charged last Thursday for $35,400,000 money laundering at the Federal High Court, Abuja.
However, Gambaryan remains in custody, Anjarwalla escaped and fled the country.
The PUNCH asked Binance where Anjarwalla was, but Binance hasn’t replied yet.
Part of Binance’s statement reads, “Tigran is a strict law enforcement professional and is not part of Binance management. While he has left the official service of the U.S. government, he has remained fully committed to the role of law enforcement officer ever since, operating as a global advocate for good governance and transparent regulatory financial practices.
“Binance respectfully requests that Tigran Gambaryan, who has no decision-making power in the company, is not held responsible while current discussions are ongoing between Binance and Nigerian government officials.”
The company explained that Gambaryan was hired in 2021 to help Binance fix past compliance issues.
Binance said has head of the company’s Financial Crime Compliance team, Gambaryan has been a steadfast supporter of the development of procedures and compliance-related skills that establish new benchmarks for the sector.
“In 2022 and 2023, Tigran’s Financial Crime Compliance team assisted global law enforcement in freezing and seizing more than $2.2b worth of assets, including more than $285m in cooperation with United States agencies like the FBI, DOJ, DEA, and others,” it said.
Statement that was made by Binance has it that Gambaryan and his group trained Nigerian law enforcement officials on the function of exchanges in the ecosystem for digital assets on several occasions.
“This included a three-hour online workshop for 70 Nigerian EFCC officials in mid-2023 and, late last year, two full-day sessions for EFCC officials in Abuja and Lagos, with more than 30 investigators attending each of them,” the company noted.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission will arraign Binance Holdings Limited, Gambaryan, and Anjarwalla on Thursday on charges of $35,400,000 money laundering.
After completely taking over the case from the Office of the National Security Adviser, the EFCC has made Gambaryan its own prisoner and secured a court warrant to apprehend and extradite Anjarwalla, who managed to escaped.
The Federal Government contacted INTERPOL on Monday of last week and issued an arrest warrant for Anjarwalla.
The EFCC is now working with the International Criminal Police Organization, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, the governments of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, and Kenya to carry out Anjarwalla’s arrest and extradition, as previously reported by Thediscoverer.
The Financial Times reported on February 28, 2024, that two executives of the company were arrested and detained after flying into the country following a ban on their website.
The EFCC requested that Binance submit information on its top 100 Nigerian users as well as the complete transaction history for the previous six months, this reported on March 12, 2024.
Nigerian and Binance are now negotiating based on requests.
