Identities Of Two Binance Officials Detained By Nigerian Government Revealed (Photos)

The identities of the two top officials of the crypto-trading platform, Binance detained in Nigeria have been revealed.

Naija News reports they are: Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, both senior officials at Binance.

According to wired, Gambaryan used to work for the U.S. IRS-CI Cyber Crimes Unit and now leads the criminal investigations team at Binance. Anjarwalla is in charge of Binance’s African operations in Kenya, and interestingly, he has both British and Kenyan citizenship.

It would be recalled that security operatives were reported to have arrested the two top officials of the cryptocurrency platform, who flew into Nigeria recently.

They were said to have been arrested, and detained, and their passports seized based on the orders of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.

Information has it that the Federal Government obtained a Court Warrant to detain the men for certain days pending further investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Binance and some other platforms such as Forextime, OctaFX, Crypto, FXTM, Coinbase, Kraken, and some other major online crypto platforms were banned by the Nigerian government over allegations of being responsible for the continuous manipulation of the forex market and illicit movement of funds.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Yemi Cardoso, had lamented that around $26 billion passed through Binance, which could not be traced to any known individuals.

Since the Binance executives arrived in Abuja on Feb. 25, they have been stripped of their passports and confined to government property without any formal charges.

Reports suggest visits from U.S. and U.K. government representatives, albeit under Nigerian guard, while Yuki, Gambaryan’s wife, added that both officials are currently held in Abuja without being told what the investigation is for.

She said she regularly talks to her husband, who, like Nadeem, is allowed to use his phone while being supervised.

Meanwhile, the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Federal Government has slammed a $10 billion fine on the cryptocurrency trading platform Binance over the free fall of the naira.

This was made known by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in an interview with the BBC.

According to Onanuga, the 10 billion dollar fine was slammed on Binance due to its illegal operations, which contributed hugely to the devaluation of the naira.

However, Binance Holdings Ltd, has refuted the claim that it has been fined $10 billion by the Nigerian government.

Reacting to the purported fine in a chat with Peoples Gazette, a Binance official said the company discussed ways to resolve issues with the Nigerian government but did not discuss any fine.