The Head of Financial Crime Compliance Unit at cryptocurrency firm, Binance, Tigran Gambaryan, who was detained in Nigeria last year, has claimed that three Nigerian lawmakers demanded a $150 million bribe from him.
The Binance executive added that the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, demanded billions worth of crypto accounts to fund his future political ambitions.
Tweeting on his X handle, with the name @TigranGambaryan on Friday, Gambaryan named two lawmakers involved in a meeting of January 5, 2024, at the National Assembly as Peter Akpanke and Philip Agbese, whom he said were working under the committee of Ginger Obinna Onwusibe, while he could not recall the name of the third lawmaker.
The NSA’s office and the lawmakers have all denied the allegations. This is just as the federal government called on Nigerians to disregard the accusations, saying there are false and outrageous.
Gambaryan, who was detained in February 2024 on a five-count allegation of money laundering, was released on October 23, 2024, on diplomatic grounds because of sickness.
Narrating his alleged ordeal in Nigeria on X, Gambaryan said that the lawmakers set up fake cameras and media to make the meeting with his team official but that the cameras were not even plugged in.
Onwusibe is the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes, Akpanke is a member of the committee, and Agbese is the deputy spokesperson of the House.
Continuing, Gambaryan said “@NuhuRibadu invited us to the official meeting and worked through Sa’ad Abubakar. Another key figure in this situation was Hamma Adama Belloji. Ogunjobi was just a pawn; they used him too. This was sold as a friendly meeting with the NSA, the head of the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), and the CBN (Central of Bank of Nigeria) governor and includes a discussion of the briber that was solicited by the House of Representatives.
“The $26 billion figure they kept pushing publicly as some mystery money escaping Nigeria is complete BS. This information was provided in response to their request and was simply cumulative trade data for Nigerians on the platform. This money didn’t leave Nigeria—it was just people buying and selling crypto. For example, if you trade $100 a hundred times, that’s $10,000 in trade volume, but in reality, you only used $100. Again, just another example of them lying to cover up their BS investigation.
“They lied about Nadeem escaping during mosque prayers. In reality, he returned and escaped afterwards. I don’t know exactly how he managed to flee. He emailed me in November, but we haven’t discussed the details of his escape. It’s possible he paid someone off, but I have no proof. If Belloji had simply checked his passport for a visa, he would have realized that Nadeem did not use that passport to travel to Nigeria.
“They sent a letter to the U.S. Embassy and the British High Commission, falsely claiming that we were voluntarily participating in strategic talks. This was a blatant lie”, he said.
While noting that some Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) officials, who were not present when Nadeem escaped, were detained, he added that: “Nadeem did not escape lawful detention—we were being held illegally. Belloji even admitted that he would fabricate evidence to obtain a court order to detain us for 14 days. Once the court order expired, they were unable to get an extension from the judge. At that point, they continued holding us illegally and had no justification for doing so.
“There was a lot of noise about using Interpol to capture Nadeem. As someone who has been involved in multiple extradition cases, I can confidently say this was a joke. Extradition is a lengthy legal process, and no rational judge in Kenya or wherever would ever approve extradition for someone who escaped illegal detention at the hands of rogue law enforcement—especially when that detention involved holding employees hostage to pressure their employer. All noise”, he said.
Gambaryan said Ribadu emphasised that he wanted billions in payouts to fund his future political ambition but was “trapped” because any settlement would be perceived as a bribe. He added: “I guess he really wanted his boss’ job.”
He added: “Ribadu even hired a U.S. law firm to negotiate my release, but this failed due to their incompetence and greed.
“Ribadu overstepped his authority and embarrassed Nigeria in front of U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Ribadu acting like… angered the White House and led to diplomatic repercussions—the U.S. limited visas to the Nigerian delegation for UNGA (United Nations General Assembly), and (President Joe) Biden refused to meet with Tinubu until my situation was resolved.
“In the end, Ribadu overestimated his influence. They thought they could secure a quick win, but instead, they created an international incident, exposing his incompetence on a global scale,” the Binance executive said.
