Detained Employee Not Part Of Binance Management – Crypto Firm

Binance has said that its employee, Tigran Gambaryan, who is at the moment, held in Nigeria, is not part of the company’s management team.

The crypto exchange giant explained that Gambaryan, an American, only serves as a law enforcement officer and does not have the power to make decisions.

The company revealed this in a statement issued on Wednesday.

Recall that in February, Gambaryan and his colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla from Binance Holdings Limited, were arrested in Nigeria on suspicion of involvement in money laundering activities.

Among other charges, the firm and the two employees were charged last Thursday for $35,400,000 money laundering at the Federal High Court, Abuja.

While Gambaryan remains in custody, Anjarwalla escaped and fled the country.

Binance’s statement partly reads, “Tigran is a strict law enforcement professional and is not part of Binance management. While he has left the official service of the U.S. government, he has remained fully committed to the role of law enforcement officer ever since, operating as a global advocate for good governance and transparent regulatory financial practices.

“Binance respectfully requests that Tigran Gambaryan, who has no decision-making power in the company, is not held responsible while current discussions are ongoing between Binance and Nigerian government officials.”

The exchange explained that Gambaryan was employed in 2021 to help Binance fix past compliance issues.

Binance said that as the head of Binance’s Financial Crime Compliance team, Gambaryan has been a strong advocate for the company to develop policies and build compliance capabilities that set new industry standards.

“In 2022 and 2023, Tigran’s Financial Crime Compliance team assisted global law enforcement in freezing and seizing more than $2.2b worth of assets, including more than $285m in cooperation with United States agencies like the FBI, DOJ, DEA, and others.

“This included a three-hour online workshop for 70 Nigerian EFCC officials in mid-2023 and, late last year, two full-day sessions for EFCC officials in Abuja and Lagos, with more than 30 investigators attending each of them,” the company noted.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will arraign Binance Holdings Limited, Gambaryan, and Anjarwalla on Thursday on charges of $35,400,000 money laundering.