Binance CEO Richard Teng Calls for Release of Detained US Employee in Nigeria

By: Eliza Bennet

Binance CEO Richard Teng has advocated for the release of Tigran Gambaryan, the detained executive of the crypto exchange in Nigeria. Binance head of financial crime compliance, Gambaryan, is a US citizen who was apprehended in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, on Feb. 26. He was detained during an official visit to discuss policy matters. Co-executive Nadeem Anjarwalla later managed to escape custody on March 22.

Teng sees this act as an effort by Nigeria to gain leverage over Binance and highlighted his statement by describing it as a new and dangerous approach adopted by governments worldwide. He sees it as a threat not to just Binance but every global corporation. In his statement, he said: 'To invite companies’ mid-level employees for policy discussions, only to afterward detain them, establishes a dangerous new precedent for all corporations around the world.'

The CEO further raised allegations against Nigeria, asserting the receipt of bribe demands from unverified persons pretending to be members of Nigeria's House Committee on Financial Crimes. These individuals allegedly demanded a secretive and significant crypto payment. The supposed negotiation failed as Teng dismissed it as illegitimate.