- The federal government has urged Nigerians to disregard the bribery allegations made by Tigran Gambaryan, an American official of Binance
- Alhaji Mohammed Idris, the minister of information and national orientation, made the call in a statement in Abuja on Friday, February 14
- Idris maintained that the allegation that some government officials were involved in the bribery allegations was outrageous and misinformation
The Federal Government has finally reacted to the allegation of Tigran Gambaryan, an American official of Binance, a cryptocurrency giant in the United States, urged Nigerians to disregard his falsehood.
Alhaji Mohammed Idris, the minister of information and national orientation, made the call in a statement in Abuja on Friday, February 14.
Why FG responded to Binance official's allegation
According to the minister, the government is concerned about the outrageous allegations, defamatory statements and misinformation spread by the Binance official, who was recently tried for financial crimes in Nigeria.
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Idris maintained that the government was hesitant to engage Gambaryan because of the high-level diplomatic intervention that resolved his issue in Nigeria. However, it was obliged to clarify the falsehood the Binance official was spreading.
He said Gambaryan and his colleagues' first visit to Nigeria was discretional on their part and the Nigerian government was not officially involved.
When government probe Binance's bribery allegation
However, the government's attention was called to the alleged bribery allegation that happened during the trip, an investigation was opened into the matter, even though no one gave an official complaint.
Their second visit to Nigeria was part of the wider investigation into the criminal manipulation of Nigerian currency using peer-to-peer platforms like Binance, but Gambaryan and his team frustrated the investigation with their tactics.
He then explained that Gambaryan was released by the federal government on humanitarian grounds in October 2024. A high-level diplomatic intervention led to his release, which was a tangible benefit for Nigeria.
FG rejected Binance's $5m to release Gambaryan
The minister revealed that the federal government rejected the downpayment of $5 million in exchange for Gambaryan's release and favour of a more beneficial settlement with the U.S. government.
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Idris then expressed confidence that the judicial system in Nigeria and the United States would provide the ground for Gambaryan to substantiate his ground in court.
He then concluded the statement by saying:
“Until then, we advise the public to exercise caution and not be swayed by Gambaryan’s unfounded and malicious claims.”
See the full statement here:
Binance's official accused Nigerian lawmakers of demanding bribes
Legit.ng earlier reported that Binance's Head of Financial Crime Compliance Tigran Gambaryan has mentioned three Nigeria's House of Representatives members who demanded a $150 million bribe from him during his travails.
Recall that Gambaryan and one other were recently detained by the Nigerian government and were on trial, but the charges against him were dropped after the US government's intervention.
However, Gambaryan did not present any documentary evidence to support his claims against the lawmakers and the veracity of the allegations was yet to be verified.
