You’re Setting A Dangerous Precedent By Detaining Our Employee – Binance CEO Tells FG

Richard Teng, the Chief Executive Officer of Binance, has told the Nigerian government that it has set a “dangerous precedent” for international businesses over the detention of its employee, Tigran Gambaryan.

Teng, who described the detention as ‘unjust’, also said that despite Binance’s repeated efforts at constructive engagement and cooperation with Nigerian authorities, Gambaryan remains in detention for ‘spurious’ reasons.

In a statement to The Punch on Tuesday, the Binance CEO, said, “To invite a company’s mid-level employees for collaborative policy meetings, only to detain them, has set a dangerous new precedent for all companies worldwide.”

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He added, “The message from the Nigerian government is clear: we must detain an innocent, mid-level employee, a former U.S. federal agent, and place him in a dangerous prison to control Binance.

“This regrettable turn of events contradicts the spirit of cooperation and transparency that Binance has consistently demonstrated in its interactions with the regulatory authorities.”

The Binance CEO said Nigerian authorities were unjustly detaining one of its mid-level employees who has no decision-making powers.

He noted that the crisis must come to a resolution quickly, and Tigran must be allowed to go home “if we’re going to move forward.”

He reiterated Binance’s commitment to cooperating with Nigerian law enforcement, citing over 600 voluntary engagements with authorities in the past.

The crypto exchange revealed that one of the key focuses of Binance’s efforts is ongoing engagement with Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to address potential historic tax liabilities.

Teng acknowledged Nigeria’s significant influence over the future of Binance and the broader crypto industry within its borders, underscoring the importance of collaboration with Nigerian authorities.

“Over the past two and a half years, Binance has worked hard to restructure our organization and personnel and upgrade our systems. We have new leadership in place with deep compliance experience and impressive backgrounds ranging from top traditional financial institutions and leading tech companies, to law enforcement and major corporate entities.”

Teng continued, “We continue to do anything and everything we can to support Gambaryan. This support is unwavering. Tigran did not go to Nigeria as decision-maker, nor a
negotiator.”He was merely acting as a functional expert in financial crime and capacity building in policy discussions.”