Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, recently issued a statement regarding Tigran Gambaryan, a key member of its Financial Crime Compliance (FCC) team, as the company engages in discussions with Nigerian government officials. The statement follows Nigerian authorities arrest two of its leaders.
The statement said Gambaryan’s team responded to hundreds of requests for information from Nigerian law enforcement agencies or related to investigations relevant to the country. This collaboration has resulted in asset freezes and seizures, targeting multiple crimes. The team also reportedly provided training to local authorities:
Tigran’s team also conducted several training sessions for Nigerian crime fighters on the role of exchanges in the digital asset ecosystem. This included a three-hour online workshop for 70 Nigerian officials from the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) in mid-2023 and, late last year, two full-day sessions for officials of the EFCC in Abuja and Lagos, with over 30 investigators present each. two.
No decision-making power, no accountability
Binance clarifies that Gambaryan, although he plays an essential role in compliance, is not part of the company’s management and does not have decision-making power:
Tigran is a strict law enforcement professional and is not part of Binance management. (…) Binance respectfully requests that Tigran Gambaryan, who has no decision-making power in the company, not be held accountable while ongoing discussions are underway between Binance and Nigerian government officials.
The statement also emphasizes Gambaryan’s extensive law enforcement experience and his purported efforts to help global authorities combat financial crime. According to the release, Gambaryan, a United States citizen, has ten years of experience as a federal agent, investigating a wide range of cases, including those related to national security, terrorism financing, identity theft, distribution of child pornography, tax evasion and violations of the bank secrecy law.
During his tenure with the IRS Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) unit of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, he led several notable investigations and collaborated with the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the United States Secret Service on various cases.
In 2021, Gambaryan joined Binance to lead the exchange’s FCC team, with the goal of resolving past compliance issues and developing robust compliance policies and capabilities. The release notes that between 2022 and 2023, Gambaryan’s team helped global law enforcement freeze and seize a significant amount of assets, including $285 million in cooperation with U.S. agencies.
The announcement follows Binance interrupts all its services in Nigeria due to litigation.