Tigran Gambaryan, a former FBI agent and Binance executive, has accused Nigerian lawmakers of demanding a $150 million bribe during a meeting in January 2024. Gambaryan claimed on his verified X account that the meeting, allegedly staged with fake cameras, involved lawmakers Peter Akpanke, Philip Agbese, and Ginger Obinna Onwusibe. He said the Department of State Services (DSS) instructed the Binance team to comply with the lawmakers’ demands.
The accusations come after Nigeria’s Federal Government accused Binance of money laundering, tax evasion, and contributing to the naira’s devaluation in 2023. Gambaryan and colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla were arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and held in Abuja, under military guard, without access to their passports.
Gambaryan dismissed the government’s claims of $26 billion in capital flight, clarifying that the figure was Binance’s trade volume, not actual funds leaving the country. He vehemently denied all charges against Binance, calling the accusations baseless.