A month before Binance Executives were arrested in February, Tigran Gambrayan, an international compliance officer for the cryptocurrency platform, came to Nigeria and he was allegedly requested $150 million in cryptocurrency by Nigerian officials.
According to a report from the New York Times disclosed the news, implying that the requested $150 million cryptocurrency was a bribe.
After meeting with Nigerian lawmakers, he was reportedly given a 48-hour ultimatum to fulfill the payment demand.
In response, Gambrayan promptly departed Nigeria and relayed details of the request, along with a three-page document, to Binance legal representatives and the company’s associates within the Nigerian government.
A month later, he returned to Nigeria with his colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, from Binance. It marked their final days of freedom as both were arrested in February on charges of tax evasion and money laundering.
The Nigerian authorities also issued threats of arrest against Richard Teng, Binance’s CEO. The arrests of Gambrayan and Anjarwalla triggered a chain of events in Nigeria, following the country’s classification of crypto as a “national security” concern.
Binance subsequently exited the country, with its website blocked. In response, Nigerian authorities intensified their crackdown on cryptocurrencies, alleging that traders on centralized exchanges manipulate the country’s exchange rate. Additionally, the SEC advised crypto traders to cease peer-to-peer trading on crypto platforms.