Nigerian lawmaker denies seeking $150m bribe from Binance executive

The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes, Ginger Obinna Onwusibe, has denied allegations of bribery made against him by Tigran Gambaryan, a senior executive of Binance.

The lawmaker, whose committee probed into Binance’s operations in Nigeria in a statement Saturday described the claims as false, malicious, and defamatory.

Onwusibe’s response follows a statement by Gambaryan, Binance’s Head of Financial Crime Compliance, who took to social media to accuse the lawmaker and his committee of demanding bribes during an investigative hearing on the company’s activities in Nigeria.

The accusations were also echoed in international publications, including NPR and Wired, painting a picture of Binance executives being subjected to political and legal harassment in Nigeria.

The lawmaker dismissed the latest allegations by Gambaryan, calling them a desperate attempt by Binance to deflect attention from its own legal troubles.

He emphasised that neither he nor his committee coordinated with Nigerian security agencies in their investigation of Binance.

He also denied allegations that the DSS, ONSA, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), or the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) were involved in the legislative probe.

Providing a detailed account of events, Onwusibe said that his committee began investigating Binance after receiving a petition from the Empowerment for Unemployed Youth Initiative, a civil society organization.

The petition alleged that Binance had engaged in financial and economic crimes that posed a threat to the Nigerian economy. In response, he said the committee invited Binance’s CEO, Richard Teng, to appear before a public hearing scheduled for January 10, 2024.

However, before that date, he said Binance requested a pre-hearing meeting to better understand the allegations against them. Onwusibe explained that the committee agreed to the request and scheduled the meeting for January 8, 2024, at the National Assembly complex.

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The lawmaker said he was unable to attend due to other official engagements, and delegated three committee members and a clerk to meet with Binance’s six-member team, which included legal counsel.

According to Onwusibe, the meeting was professional, transparent, and ended on a cordial note, with no demands for bribes.