Cryptocurrency firm Binance’s CEO Richard Teng has alleged that some persons claiming to be Nigerian officials demanded a huge bribe from his company so that the issues in the country would disappear.
The firm’s CEO made the claim via a blog post on Tuesday as he stated that the alleged officials had demanded the huge payment in the form of Cryptocurrency.
Teng who chronicled the company’s problems with Nigeria, stating that they were yet to receive the full complaints the government had against them.
Recall that on February 28, two executives of the company were detained by the federal government over investigations into illegal operations in the country and foreign exchange rate manipulations.
The detained executives included Nadeem Anjarwalla, Binance’s regional manager for Africa; and Tigran Gambaryan, Binance’s head of financial crime compliance who were accused of tax evasion with Anjarwalla absconding before his day in court.
Teng said,
“and our employees, therefore, inquired if there was an opportunity to submit our responses in writing and in the absence of a public hearing”.
“There were a number of reasons for that, including the sensitivity of the information and getting the opportunity to see the allegations in full and prepare a thorough substantive response,” he said.
“The meeting ended with the Chair confirming they would consider the matter and revert through Binance’s local counsel.
“However, as our employees were leaving the venue, they were approached by unknown persons who suggested to them to make a payment in settlement of the allegations.
“Later that day, our local counsel — representing us at that time — was summoned by the Committee through someone purporting to be their agent, who relayed the Committee’s terms and instructed our local counsel to advise us.
“Counsel reported back that he had been presented with a demand for a significant payment in cryptocurrency to be paid in secret within 48 hours to make these issues go away and that our decision was expected by the morning.
“Our team grew increasingly concerned about their safety in Nigeria and immediately departed.”
Teng said the payment request was declined “via our counsel, not viewing it to be a legitimate settlement offer”.
He added that the company was open to negotiations but insisted that it must be done completely within the law.
