Teng: Binance wants 'to be part of building a strong economy for the Nigerian people' but detained employee 'must be allowed to go home'

Teng mentioned that Gambaryan and his colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla returned to Nigeria for a scheduled meeting on Feb. 26 after receiving multiple assurances of safe passage. Post-meeting, Nigerian officials confiscated their passports and cellphones and moved them to a high-security compound where it was made clear they were not free to leave. Despite complying with requests from the Nigerian government such as removing the naira from its platform, Gambaryan remains detained in Nigeria while Anjarwalla managed to escape detention in March. Gambaryan is now facing criminal charges. During an April 25 hearing, a Nigerian prosecutor stated, "The 1st defendant [Binance] is operating virtually. The only thing we have to hold on to is this defendant [Tigran]." Teng interpreted the message from the Nigerian government as clear: detain an innocent mid-level employee and former U.S. federal agent in a dangerous prison to control Binance.

According to a post by the Digital Chamber, the Nigerian government's detention of Gambaryan has alarming implications. The Chamber warned that Gambaryan’s "detainment under such dubious circumstances sets a dangerous precedent, signaling that any American businessman abroad, particularly those in the cryptocurrency sector, is vulnerable to similar unlawful actions by foreign governments." The Chamber also highlighted that Nigeria is an ally of the U.S., receiving more than $1 billion in U.S. foreign aid annually.

A report dated April 30 from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) suggested that the risk assessment processes of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for Nigeria are insufficient due to heightened political and security risks in the country. Nigeria faces numerous challenges including piracy, ethno-religious conflicts, corruption, weapons and narcotics trafficking, misrule, and armed banditry which undermine its government's legitimacy. Widespread and complex corruption impacting Nigeria's political and security sectors was also highlighted by GAO.

Gambaryan is globally recognized as someone fully dedicated to law enforcement, according to a post on Binance's website. For ten years he served as a U.S. federal agent investigating cases related to national security, terrorism financing, identity theft, distribution of child pornography, tax evasion, and bank secrecy act violations among others. During his tenure at the U.S. Treasury Department’s IRS Criminal Investigations unit, Gambaryan worked alongside agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the United States Secret Service.