The Federal Government said it is committed to pursuing the criminal case against the crypto platform Binance and its officials to a logical conclusion.
This follows a bribery allegation made by the Binance Chief Executive Officer, Richard Teng, in a blog post published by the New York Times on Tuesday.
President Bola Tinubu’s administration dismissed as false and unfounded the claim that some individuals demanded $150 million in cryptocurrency to settle the charge against the firm.
The New York Times reported that the exchange’s compliance officer, Tigran Gambaryan had received a disturbing message on a trip to Nigeria in January: the company had 48 hours to pay about $150 million in crypto.
According to Gambaryan, who had been an agent with the U.S. Department of Justice, that message was a request for bribes from someone in Nigeria’s government.
It is alleged that the incident took place before Gambaryan and his colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were taken into custody by a national security adviser. Anjarwalla has subsequently fled to Kenya.
Both Binance executives are facing trial for alleging tax evasion and money laundering.
They were scheduled to go on trial last Thursday, but the court postponed it until May 17.
Two people familiar with the report told The New York Times that Gambaryan wrote a three-page report describing the cash request, giving it to Binance’s legal team.
He’s also been reported to have alerted contacts in the Nigerian government, telling them of that incident.
However, 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.
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?”
The prosecutor of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ekele Iheanacho, dismissed Teng’s claims with a vow 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.”
