Nigeria’s FG Denies Binance CEO’s Bribery Allegation
尼日利亚 FG 否认币安首席执行官的贿赂指控
发布: 2024/05/08 20:19 阅读: 426
,The Federal Government (FG) of Nigeria on Tuesday vowed to pursue the criminal case against the crypto platform, Binance, and its officials, to a logical end.
Speaking against the backdrop of a bribery allegation made by the Binance Chief Executive Officer, Richard Teng, in a blog post published by the New York Times, top officials of the President Bola Tinubu administration described as false and unfounded the accusation that some individuals demanded $150m bribe in cryptocurrency to settle the criminal charge against the firm.
The NYT on Tuesday reported that on a trip to Nigeria in January, Tigran Gambaryan, a compliance officer with the exchange, received an unsettling message: The company had 48 hours to make a payment of roughly $150m in crypto.
Gambaryan, a former United States law enforcement agent, understood the message as a request for a bribe from someone in the Nigerian government.
The incident allegedly occurred before Gambaryan and a colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were arrested and detained on the orders of the National Security Adviser. Anjarwalla subsequently escaped and has been traced to Kenya.
Gambaryan has been held in Kuje Correctional Facility in the last four weeks, after he was transferred there from a safe house on April 8.
See Also: Tinubu’s Administration Demanded $150 Million Bribe To Make ‘Illegal’ Nigeria Charges Go Away: Binance CEO
Both Binance and Gambaryan are facing trial for tax evasion and money laundering.
Their trial was scheduled to begin last Thursday, but the court postponed it until May 17.
Gambaryan reportedly wrote a three-page report describing the payment request and gave it to Binance’s lawyers, two people familiar with the report told NYT.
He also reportedly alerted contacts in the Nigerian government and recounted the incident to them.
Binance had denied that Gambaryan had any “decision-making power” in the company.
The case is the latest legal headache for Binance, which agreed to a $4.3bn fine last year to settle charges by the US government that it allowed criminal activity to flourish on its platform.
In April, the company’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, was sentenced to four months in prison for his role in those violations.
The spokesman for the ONSA, Zakari Mijinyawa, said in a text message to NYT that the Federal Government would make its case “on the strength of the facts and evidence, in accordance with due process.”
“We are confident that Nigeria has a good case. Binance equally will have every opportunity under the rule of law to make its case and see justice delivered,” Mijinyawa said.
In his post, Teng laid out the history of Binance’s engagement with Nigeria, which has become a hotspot for the crypto industry.
It has the second-highest rate of crypto adoption in the world behind India, according to Chainalysis, a data firm.
In 2023, the financial regulators issued a statement directing Binance to stop soliciting investors in Nigeria.
Binance halted its advertising in the country and offered to meet with government officials, Teng said.
On January 8, Teng said Gambaryan and a group of Binance employees met with lawmakers, but the meeting was contentious
The lawmakers, he wrote, read aloud a list of accusations against Binance, including tax violations.
As the Binance employees left the meeting, Teng wrote they were approached by “unknown persons” who suggested that they make a payment to settle the allegations.
Later, a local lawyer representing Binance spoke with someone purporting to be an agent of the House committee, Teng further claimed in his article, adding that the purported agent demanded “a significant payment in cryptocurrency to be paid in secret within 48 hours to make these issues go away.”
The amount was roughly $150m, four people familiar with the matter said, according to a Bloomberg report, quoting NYT sources.
See Also: Flying Pepe (FLYPEPE) to Surge 6,800% Ahead of MEXC Listing, as Bonk and Dogecoin Lag
“Our team grew increasingly concerned about their safety in Nigeria and immediately departed. We, of course, declined the payment demand via our counsel, not viewing it to be a legitimate settlement offer,” Teng wrote in his post.
Teng claimed that Binance had received assurances that Gambaryan would be safe if he returned to Nigeria.
According to him, a company adviser with deep local connections recommended that Binance officials meet with the ONSA.
However, a prosecutor with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ekele Iheanacho, dismissed Teng’s allegation, vowing to prosecute the case to the end.
Iheanacho, one of the lawyers prosecuting the Binance officials, said, ‘’Nobody demanded any money, the case is being taken to a logical conclusion. He’s making it up although I am not aware of any such allegations. As far as I am concerned, the charges are going on and we are making every effort to ensure that we get to a logical end.’’
The Media Adviser to the Attorney-General of the Federation, Kamarudeen Ogundele, directed inquiries to the information minister and the Presidency.
He said “You can call the minister of information or president’s spokesperson. This allegation is not court-related. It is not an allegation against the Attorney-General of the Federation.
The information minister, Mohammed Idris, could not be reached for comment as calls to his phone rang out.
But senior officials, who spoke in separate interviews with The PUNCH on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk about the matter, dared the Binance boss to reveal the names of individuals who demanded the bribe.
A top official in the ONSA, who is close to the probe, said, “Did he (Binance CEO) mention a name? Since he didn’t mention a name, why should anyone be worried? Why should anyone waste their time if somebody made an unfounded allegation but could not mention any name?”
A top EFCC chief, who is close to the trial, also said, “If someone would say something like this, he should have the capacity to mention the people. It’s not worth our time, anybody can say anything but as long as they can’t substantiate it, it’s a waste of time. He should mention names, if not, all that he’s saying is rubbish.”
Two top officials at the EFCC accused the Binance CEO of blackmailing the Federal Government.
They noted that Teng’s claim was frivolous, describing his action as “the modus operandi of foreign personalities and corporations facing legal charges in Nigeria and other African countries.”
One of the sources noted, “It is not only the EFCC that is prosecuting or investigating Binance over its atrocities against Nigeria. There are allegations of money laundering, and tax evasion, amongst others, against the company, and several federal government agencies are probing the company’s activities in the country.
“But the latest comment about an alleged request for bribery by the Binance CEO is a blackmail against the Federal Government. That is the modus operandi of international corporations and individuals facing charges in Nigeria or anywhere else in Africa.”
A senior official noted, “It is the tradition of these international players to blackmail the country whenever they’re caught. What is the correlation between the alleged request for bribes and the allegations brought against Binance?
“The facts are there – they evaded tax, their platform is being used to launder money, so why are they not facing the facts? The claim is frivolous and a mere blackmail against the government.”
The spokesperson for ONSA, Mijinyawa, could not be reached for comments on Tuesday. He did not respond to calls and a message sent to his phone.
The spokesperson for the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, declined comment.
CSOs React
Commenting on the development, the Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Musa Ibrahim, said he wasn’t surprised by the allegation, noting the bad reputation of Nigeria’s administrative justice system.
He urged the CEO to “be bold enough” to name persons and organisations involved in the alleged demand for bribes so that they could be dealt with decisively.
“This allegation is not enough, it should be investigated and let Nigerians know those undermining their country’s integrity. The (Binance) CEO should be bold enough to mention those individuals or corporate organisations that have demanded bribes on this matter.
“This is important in order not to make frivolous accusations and to also deal decisively with these public officials who always mortgage this country. So, we urge him to be courageous and bold enough to also mention those individuals, those organisations, those government officials, if at all they were involved”, he said
Similarly, the Chairman of the Centre for Accountability and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran, said Binance should be compelled to name the alleged persons so they can be prosecuted.
He added that the officials who allowed the Binance executive to slip out of the country should be equally investigated.
“Binance should be compelled to name names, and everyone involved should be prosecuted and punished. All the agencies involved in the Binance case; DSS, NIA, DMI, Immigration Services, which let him slip out of Nigeria should be investigated and culpable offenders should be prosecuted and given deterrent punishment,’’ he suggested.
Binance did not respond to email queries to provide clarity and insight on the ‘unknown persons’ who suggested making payment to settle the allegations.
The crypto exchange did not also respond to how much the ‘unknown persons’ requested.
周二，尼日利亚联邦政府 (FG) 发誓要对加密货币平台币安及其官员提起刑事诉讼，以取得合乎逻辑的结果。这是在币安首席执行官理查德提出贿赂指控的背景下发表的在《纽约时报》发表的一篇博客文章中，总统博拉·蒂努布 (Bola Tinubu) 政府的高级官员称，一些人索要 1.5 亿美元的加密货币贿赂以和解对该公司的刑事指控，这一指控是虚假且毫无根据的。 《纽约时报》周二报道称，该交易所合规官 Tigran Gambaryan 在 1 月份前往尼日利亚时收到了一条令人不安的消息：该公司有 48 小时的时间支付大约 1.5 亿美元的加密货币。 Gambaryan，前美国执法人员，将这条消息理解为尼日利亚政府某人索贿的请求。据称，该事件发生在甘巴扬和同事纳迪姆·安贾尔瓦拉根据国家安全顾问的命令被捕和拘留之前。 Anjarwalla 随后逃脱并被追踪到肯尼亚。Gambaryan 在 4 月 8 日从安全屋被转移到 Kuje 惩教所后，过去四个星期一直被关押在该设施中。另请参阅：Tinubu 政府索要 1.5 亿美元贿赂以使其“非法”尼日利亚指控消失：币安首席执行官币安和 Gambaryan 均因逃税和洗钱面临审判。他们的审判原定于上周四开始，但法院推迟至 5 月 17 日。据报道，Gambaryan 写了一份三页报告，描述了付款情况两名知情人士告诉《纽约时报》，他已向币安提出请求，并将其交给了币安的律师。据报道，他还向尼日利亚政府联系人发出了警报，并向他们讲述了这一事件。币安否认甘巴扬在公司拥有任何“决策权”。此案是币安面临的最新法律难题，该公司去年同意处以 43 亿美元罚款，以和解美国政府对其平台上纵容犯罪活动的指控。 今年 4 月，该公司创始人赵长鹏被判处监禁由于他在这些违法行为中所扮演的角色，他被判入狱四个月。 ONSA 发言人扎卡里·米金亚瓦 (Zakari Mijinyawa) 在给《纽约时报》的短信中表示，联邦政府将“根据事实和证据，按照正当程序”立案。 ”“我们相信尼日利亚有一个很好的案例。 Mijinyawa 表示：“币安同样将在法治下拥有一切机会提出诉讼并确保正义得到伸张。”腾在帖子中阐述了币安与尼日利亚合作的历史，尼日利亚已成为加密行业的热点。根据数据公司 Chainaanalysis 的数据，该国的加密货币采用率位居全球第二，仅次于印度。 2023 年，金融监管机构发布声明，指示币安停止在尼日利亚招揽投资者。 币安停止了在该国的广告宣传，并提供滕表示，会见政府官员。 1 月 8 日，滕表示，甘巴良和一群币安员工会见了立法者，但会议存在争议。他写道，立法者大声宣读了针对币安的指控清单，包括税务违规行为。在币安员工离开会议后，滕写道，“身份不明的人”找到了他们，建议他们付款以和解指控。后来，代表币安的当地律师与自称是众议院委员会代理人的某人进行了交谈。在他的文章中进一步声称，并补充说，所谓的代理人要求“在 48 小时内秘密支付大笔加密货币，以使这些问题消失。” 据四位知情人士透露，这笔金额约为 1.5 亿美元。彭博社报道援引《纽约时报》消息来源。另请参阅：由于 Bonk 和 Dogecoin 落后，Flying Pepe (FLYPEPE) 在 MEXC 上市前飙升 6,800% “我们的团队越来越担心他们在尼日利亚的安全，并立即离开。当然，我们通过我们的律师拒绝了付款要求，并不认为这是一个合法的和解提议。”Teng 在帖子中写道。Teng 声称币安已得到保证，如果他返回尼日利亚，Gambaryan 将是安全的。一位在当地有着深厚人脉的公司顾问建议币安官员与 ONSA 会面。然而，经济和金融犯罪委员会检察官埃克勒·伊希纳乔 (Ekele Iheanacho) 驳回了滕的指控，并发誓要起诉此案到底。起诉币安官员的律师表示，“没有人索要任何金钱，案件正在得出合乎逻辑的结论。”尽管我不知道有任何此类指控，但他是在编造。就我而言，指控仍在继续，我们正在尽一切努力确保我们得到一个合乎逻辑的结局。”联邦总检察长的媒体顾问卡马鲁丁·奥贡德勒(Kamarudeen Ogundele)对信息进行了询问。部长和总统。他说：“你可以打电话给新闻部长或总统发言人。这项指控与法庭无关。这不是针对联邦总检察长的指控。由于电话响起，记者无法联系到信息部长穆罕默德·伊德里斯发表评论。但高级官员在接受《PUNCH》单独采访时表示，由于无权谈论此事而匿名，币安老板敢于透露索要贿赂的个人姓名。 一位接近调查的 ONSA 高级官员表示，“他（币安首席执行官）提到一个名字？既然他没有提到名字，为什么会有人担心呢？如果有人提出毫无根据的指控，但又不能提及任何名字，为什么还要浪费时间呢？”一位接近审判的 EFCC 高级负责人也表示，“如果有人说出这样的话，他应该有能力提到人民。这不值得我们花时间，任何人都可以说什么，但只要他们无法证实，那就是浪费时间。他应该提到名字，如果没有，他所说的一切都是垃圾。” EFCC 的两名高级官员指责币安首席执行官敲诈联邦政府。他们指出，滕的说法很无聊，称他的行为是“外国的作案手法”。一位消息人士指出，“不仅仅是 EFCC 正在起诉或调查币安针对尼日利亚的暴行。该公司面临洗钱、逃税等指控，多个联邦政府机构正在调查该公司在该国的活动。“但有关币安首席执行官涉嫌索贿的最新评论是一种勒索反对联邦政府。这是在尼日利亚或非洲其他地方面临指控的国际公司和个人的作案手法。”一位高级官员指出，“这些国际参与者一旦被抓到就会对国家进行勒索，这是他们的传统。涉嫌索贿和针对币安的指控之间有何关联？“事实摆在眼前——他们逃税，他们的平台被用来洗钱，所以他们为什么不面对事实呢？这一说法毫无意义，纯粹是对政府的敲诈。”周二，我们无法联系到 ONSA 发言人 Mijinyawa 发表评论。他没有接听电话，也没有回复发送到他手机上的消息。EFCC 发言人德勒·奥耶瓦勒 (Dele Oyewale) 拒绝发表评论。 民间社会立法倡导中心执行主任奥瓦尔·穆萨·易卜拉欣 (Auwal Musa Ibrahim) 在评论事态发展时表示，他他对这一指控并不感到惊讶，因为尼日利亚行政司法系统的声誉不佳。他敦促首席执行官“足够大胆”，点出涉嫌索贿的个人和组织的名字，以便对他们进行果断处理。仅仅指控还不够，还应该进行调查，让尼日利亚人知道那些破坏国家诚信的人。 （币安）首席执行官应该大胆提及那些在此事上索要贿赂的个人或企业组织。因此，我们敦促他有足够的勇气和胆量提及那些个人、那些组织、那些政府官员，如果他们真的参与其中的话。”他说。币安应该被迫说出被指控人员的名字，以便他们受到起诉。他补充说，那些允许币安高管溜出该国的官员应该受到同样的调查。被起诉并受到惩罚。币安案涉及的所有机构；他建议说：“DSS、NIA、DMI、移民局这些让他溜出尼日利亚的机构应该受到调查，有罪的罪犯应该受到起诉并给予威慑性惩罚。”身份不明的人建议付款以和解指控。加密货币交易所也没有回应“身份不明的人”要求的金额。
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