LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – The Chief Executive Officer of Binance, Richard Teng says the company is ready to address the tax evasion accused of with Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
Teng revealed that the company is ready to cooperate with the Nigeria law enforcement to resolve the crisis so that Tigran Gambaryan would return home “if we’re going to move forward.”
The CEO disclosed in statement on Tuesday, that the method used by Nigerians government to detain its executives was ‘unjust’ and labelled it “dangerous precedent” for international businesses.
He added that Gambaryan remains in detention for ‘spurious’ reasons only known to the Nigerian authorities.
He 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.”
On February 26, Gambaryan and his flee colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla were arrested and charged with tax evasion, currency speculation, and money laundering.
Further investigation reveals that Binance was accused of naira devaluation by fixing exchange rate prices on its platform.
However, the Binance CEO said Nigerian authorities were unjustly detaining one of its mid-level employees who has no decision-making powers.
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.
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He further outlined Binance’s vision of working alongside the Nigerian government to contribute to the development of a robust economy for the Nigerian people.
“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 a decision-maker, nor a negotiator.”He was merely acting as a functional expert in financial crime and capacity building in policy discussions.”