Binance Bribe Controversy: Nigerian govt accuses Gambaryan of spreading falsehood

The Nigerian government says the corruption allegations levelled against its senior officials by Binance’s head of financial crime, Tigran Gambaryan, are false.

The Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, in a Friday statement, said Mr Gambaryan’s “allegations are not only unsubstantiated but also lack credibility, given his apparent motive to discredit and intimidate those who ensured he faced justice.”

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Gambaryan accused Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, of seeking to personally benefit from Nigeria’s dispute with Binance.

The crypto firm’s official also claimed that Mr Ribadu hired a US law firm to negotiate his release from detention while in Nigerian custody but the move failed due to their “incompetence and greed”.Mr Gambaryan, who was detained in Nigeria for several months, made these allegations on Friday in a series of post on X.

“We categorically deny the retaliatory claims made by Mr Gambaryan against Nigerian officials involved in his case, and we urge the public to disregard these false accusations in their entirety,” Mr Idris wrote in his statement. He added that the government is reluctant to engage Mr Gambaryan giving the high-level of diplomatic intervention that resolved his case.

In his posts, the Binance official mentioned the names of Nigerian lawmakers who allegedly demanded a $150 million bribe from him to stave off his arrest and prosecution.

Mr Idris, in his response, said the government investigated the allegations against the lawmakers. He, however, did not state the outcome of the investigation.

The Arrests

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Gambaryan and another Binance official, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were detained last year by the Nigerian government which accused their firm of money laundering and encouraging criminality in Nigeria.

While Mr Anjarwalla escaped custody in March, Mr Gambaryan was detained until October 2024, when Nigeria dropped the charges against him following the US government’s intervention.

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Narrating his ordeal and Nigeria’s interaction with the US, the American said Mr Ribadu’s actions angered the US government.

He also alleged that Mr Ribadu, a highly decorated former anti-corruption chief, sought to profit from the controversy.

“Ribadu emphasized that he wanted billions in payouts to fund his future political ambition,” he claimed.

Earlier today, PREMIUM TIMES reached out to the NSA’s spokesperson, Zakari Mijinyawa, for a reaction to the allegations. He did not return calls nor reply to WhatsApp messages sent to him.

In his tweet, the American also accused the Nigerian government of demanding citizens’ data from cryptocurrency companies to target members of opposition political parties.

Some Unknown Facts- you can read the rest in the Wired article and the NPR story.

The DSS was involved in the House of Representatives matter. We met with them at their office on Friday, January 5, 2024, as a prerequisite to our meeting with the House of Representatives. They…

— Tigran Gambaryan (@TigranGambaryan) February 14, 2025

“They tried to use us (Binance) to violate international privacy laws by demanding user data on all Nigerians to target opposition members allegedly ‘manipulating the price of the naira,” he said.

However, Mr Idris dismissed all the allegations as false.

“… We are confident that both the Nigerian and American judicial systems will provide Mr Gambaryan with a fair opportunity to substantiate his claims in court. Until then, we advise the public to exercise caution and not be swayed by Mr Gambaryan’s unfounded and malicious claims,” Mr Idris said.

Read the full statement by the minister below.

Disregard Falsehoods Being Peddled by Tigran Gambaryan against Nigerian Government Officials – FG

The Federal Government of Nigeria notes with concern the outrageous allegations, misinformation, and defamatory statements being disseminated by Tigran Gambaryan, an American personnel of Binance who was recently tried in Nigeria for financial crimes.

While the Federal Government of Nigeria is reluctant to engage Mr. Gambaryan, due to the high-level diplomatic intervention that resolved his case, we are compelled to set the record straight to prevent his falsehoods from gaining traction.

The first visit of Mr. Gambaryan and his colleagues to Nigeria was at their own discretion, and the Government was not officially involved. However, when the Government’s attention was drawn to an alleged bribery demand during that trip, an investigation was immediately launched, despite there being no formal complaint from anyone.

Mr. Gambaryan’s second visit to Nigeria was part of a wider probe into the criminal manipulation of the Nigerian currency through peer-to-peer platforms like Binance, but investigators were frustrated by the tactics deployed by Gambaryan and his team.

Mr. Gambaryan was released by the Nigerian government in October 2024 on humanitarian grounds and following a high-level diplomatic intervention that ended with tangible benefits for Nigeria. The government rejected Binance’s offer of a $5 million down payment in exchange for Mr. Gambaryan’s freedom, in favour of a more beneficial settlement with the American government.

We categorically deny the retaliatory claims made by Mr. Gambaryan against Nigerian officials involved in his case, and we urge the public to disregard these false accusations in their entirety.

It is essential to note that Mr. Gambaryan’s allegations are not only unsubstantiated but also lack credibility, given his apparent motive to discredit and intimidate those who ensured he faced justice.

However, we are confident that both the Nigerian and American judicial systems will provide Mr. Gambaryan with a fair opportunity to substantiate his claims in court. Until then, we advise the public to exercise caution and not be swayed by Mr. Gambaryan’s unfounded and malicious claims.

Mohammed Idris

Honourable Minister of Information and National Orientation.

Friday, February 14, 2025