Nigerian authorities have detained Binance senior executives after accusing the exchange of money laundering

Officials also reported plans to fine the exchange $10 billion

12.03.2024 - 14:25

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What’s new? Binance’s senior executives Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla have been detained in Nigeria after local authorities accused the crypto exchange of profiting from illegal transactions. Gambaryan, who is a US citizen, and Anjarwalla, who holds dual citizenship of the UK and Kenya, traveled to the Nigerian capital Abuja to meet with local officials about the claims against the exchange before being placed in detention, having their passports confiscated and not facing any charges, relatives of the managers told Wired.

Material by Wired

What else is known? In February, the Nigerian authorities demanded local telecommunications companies to block the websites of crypto exchanges Binance, OctaFX, Coinbase, and others to weaken speculative cryptocurrency activity.

It was later reported that Nigerian authorities want to levy a $10 billion fine against Binance. The President’s office claims that the exchange profited from illegal transactions that led to the fall of the national currency, the naira, by 70% in recent months.

The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, claims that $26 billion in illicit funds passed through Binance Nigeria last year alone.

The officials also demanded that Binance’s new CEO, Richard Teng, appear before Congress in connection with allegations of terrorism financing and money laundering.

On March 5, Binance stopped providing services with the Nigerian naira, including removing all trading pairs with the asset.

Binance said it is working with Nigerian authorities to bring Gambaryan and Anjarwalla safely home to their families, “They are professionals with the highest integrity and we will provide them all the support we can. We trust there will be a swift resolution to this matter.”

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