$150m alleged bribe: Verbal war rages between Binance’s Gambaryan, Nigeria’s lawmakers

For the past week, there have been verbal alterations between a cryptocurrency firm, Binance’s boss, Gambaryan and some members of the House of Representatives over the former’s claims that the lawmakers demanded a $150million bribe to give him a soft landing in the case of a fraud allegedly committed by the firm.

However, the named lawmakers have fired back, affirming that Gambaryan’s allegation is a tale of falsehood and sheer blackmail.

In this report, Damilola Olufemi, traces the genesis of the crisis and the underlying issues in the whole bribery saga

It is an understatement to say that the mere mention of the name Tigran Gambaryan evokes in many minds, the feeling of a man at the centre of a storm.

Gambaryan is a top executive of Binance, a cryptocurrency firm arrested by the Nigerian government in 2024 over alleged fraud.

Gambaryan’s arrest and detention took a while before he was released on health grounds.

However, a few months after his release, he revealed how three Nigerian lawmakers requested a bribe from him.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had declared on June 9, 2023, that the operations of Binance Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Binance, were illegal. Eight months later, precisely, on February 26, 2024, it was reported that top executives of Binance had been detained after their passports were seized by the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) upon their arrival to Nigeria.

Gambaryan, a citizen of the United States of America and Binance’s head of Financial crime compliance, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan who is Binance’s regional manager for Africa, flew to Nigeria following the plan of the Nigerian government to ban Binance and several other cryptocurrency trading websites.

Earlier, the federal government had ordered its telecommunications firms to restrict access to the websites of cryptocurrency firms such as Binance, OctaFX, Coinbase and others, months after its Central Bank issued a guideline to govern digital asset operators’ activities.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, had on February 27, 2024, said the sum of $26 billion was channelled through Binance Nigeria from unidentified sources in one year. Cardoso added that the CBN was working with the Security and Exchange Commission to ensure there is no manipulation in the FX market.

Following the apprehension of the Binance executives, the Office of the NSA on March 1, 2024, announced that the probing operations of Binance were continuing.

Zakari Mijinyawa, the Head of Strategic Communication, at the Office of the NSA, disclosed the agency’s further scrutiny of the operations of the cryptocurrency company.

He said, “The office is leading and coordinating an interagency process by law enforcement officers – this includes ongoing investigations into the operations of Binance.
Outcomes from this interagency investigation will be made available in due course.”

Two weeks later, the federal government prayed an Abuja Magistrate court to extend the detention of the two Binance executives after an initial warrant used to hold them lapsed.

According to Reuters, the documents seen showed that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was earlier granted an order to detain the two for 14 days to facilitate probing of the matter. However, upon expiration of the order, the Binance executives were not released, because the EFCC has asked a chief magistrate’s court in Abuja to extend their detention while investigations continue, said a person involved in the case but not authorised to speak to the press.

Anjarwalla’s wife, Elahe, informed Reuters that the two men were being kept in a guarded house in Abuja and she could only speak to her husband on the phone at least once a day in the presence of a guard.

A few days after, the executives of the cryptocurrency company appeared in court for the first time at the Federal High Court Abuja but were not charged with any crime. However, their detention was extended by two more weeks. The court and lawyers representing Gambaryan and Anjarwalla declined to comment on the matter.

Lawyers from EFCC prayed to the court to grant a new detention order after the initial one expired on March 12.

The Binance executives opposed the EFCC’s fresh detention prayers. However, the judge did not rule on EFCC’s request.

The families of the two detained executives said in a statement “At the court hearing in Abuja today, which was attended by Tigran and Nadeem, the court ruled that after hearing arguments from both parties, they would resume the session on April 5th.”

Determined to press on its charges against Binance and its executives, the federal government through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on March 25, 2024, filed a lawsuit in Abuja charging Binance with four counts of tax evasion. The charges include non-payment of Value-Added Tax (VAT), company income tax, failure to file tax returns, and complicity in helping customers evade taxes through its platform.

The office of the NSA also disclosed it was working with Interpol after Anjarwalla escaped from detention. However, Binance said it was aware of Anjarwalla’s escape and was working with authorities to resolve the issue.

The two Binance executives, on March 28, 2024, sued the NSA and the EFCC for violating their fundamental rights and asked the court to set them free.

The duo claimed they were not notified of any offences committed. Their requests to the court include: an order to release them and return their passports, a public apology, and a restraining order from further detention.

The court case between the Binance executives and the EFCC lingered for a couple of months with the intervention of the USA lawmakers, urging its embassy in Nigeria to seek the humanitarian release of the apprehended executive of Binance.

On October 23, 2024, the money laundering case against 40-year-old Gambaryan was dropped by the EFCC to allow him to get proper medical treatment abroad.

Earlier, a High Court judge denied him bail twice, noting he was a potential flight risk. The new order followed the escape of Anjarwalla from custody.

According to the EFCC lawyer, Ekele Ihenacho, “We have withdrawn the money laundering charges against Tigran Gambaryan to allow him to get medical treatment outside the country.”

Ihenacho further disclosed that diplomatic arrangements had also helped in securing Gambaryan’s release without elaborating.

New Daily Prime had earlier reported that former USA President Joe Biden, in a phone conversation, appreciated Tinubu for the release of Gambaryan.

In a dramatic and shocking twist three months after his release, Gambaryan, on Friday, February 14, 2025, alleged that three House of Representatives members, namely Philip Agbese, Ginger Onwusibe and Peter Akpanke, demanded a $150m bribe from him to forestall his arrest and prosecution over money laundering allegations.

“The DSS was involved in the House of Representatives matter. We met with them at their office on Friday, January 5, 2024, as a prerequisite to our meeting with the House of Representatives. They alluded to the fact that we had to comply with whatever the House members instructed us to do.

“At the House meeting, there were three members present. Two of them were Peter Akpanke and Philip Agbese, both working under the leadership of Ginger Obinna Onwusibe. There was a third house member, but I can’t recall his name.

“They set up fake cameras and media to make the meeting appear official, but the cameras weren’t even plugged in. As you may already know, this ended with them asking for a $150m bribe, paid in cryptocurrency into their personal wallets. A Micky Mouse operation at its best,” he said.

Standing on his claims, Gambaryan went on X to affirm that the lawmakers demanded a bribe from him.

Taking to X, he said, “What I shared was factual, based on my personal experiences and conversations with those who have direct knowledge of the events I discussed; information that was shared with both Nigerian and US law enforcement.“

So please, allow me to leave this behind and find peace.”

Between Binance’s Gambaryan and Nigerian lawmakers, verbal war rages over $150m bribe allegation

For the last four days now, there has been a raging storm over the allegation of $150 million bribe between a cryptocurrency firm, Binance’s boss, Gambaryan and some members of the House of Representatives over the former’s claims that the lawmakers demanded the bribe to give him a soft landing in the case of a fraud allegedly committed by the firm.

However, one of the accused lawmakers has fired back, affirming that Gambaryan’s allegation is a tale of falsehood and sheer blackmail.

Meanwhile, one of the mentioned lawmakers, Agbese, who is also the Deputy Spokesman of the House, has denied the claim saying, “I am outraged by the false allegations made by Tigran Gambaryan, an executive of the controversial crypto firm Binance, claiming that I was among those who demanded a $150m bribe from him.“These allegations are false. I was not part of any meeting with any Binance executive regarding money for any purpose. The leadership of the committee took the matter to court, and Binance has already apologised.“I have never used any cryptocurrency as I do not have a crypto wallet anywhere in the world. I could not have asked for funds to be credited to a non-existent wallet.”

Gambaryan and his associate, who escaped from prison, should return to the EFCC and defend themselves. Instead of trying to implicate me, they should focus on addressing the allegations against them.

“As a consequence of the foregoing, I demand that Tigran Gambaryan publishes any evidence that links Hon Philip Agbese to the issue. The man has spewed many other lies in his report about the government demanding information on opposition elements and other outrageous claims.

“I further demand that failing to provide evidence as stated, Tigran Gambaryan must cause a retraction of his malicious claims and publication and apologise to me within the next seven days or face legal action from my lawyers.”

Several individuals and civil society organisations have waded into the saga, including the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), urging the alleged lawmakers to approach a court of law to prove their innocence.

HURIWA, in addition, challenged the lawmakers accused of demanding the $150 million bribe to prevent Gambaryan’s arrest and prosecution in Nigeria over alleged financial crimes to make themselves available if summoned by any US court.

READ ALSO: Binance: Nigerian lawmakers, Gambaryan fight dirty over $150m bribe