Tigran Gambaryan, former head of Financial Crime Compliance at Binance and a former US federal agent, has accused the Nigerian government of extorting $50 million from the Biden administration in exchange for his release from detention last year.
Gambaryan made the allegation via X, on Sunday, claiming Nigerian officials “bragged” about securing the payout from the Biden administration.
He made the remark in response to a post from Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who referenced Gambaryan’s eight-month detention in Nigeria in 2024.
“Thanks @cz_binance. Then they bragged about extorting the Biden administration out of $50 million to release me,” Gambaryan wrote.
Zhao’s post has since been removed from X, but it comes amid rising diplomatic tensions between Nigeria and the United States, following social media posts by US President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth about the “killing of Christians” in the West African country.
Another post from Gambaryan on the subject reads: “Nigeria is currently run by a lawless regime that relies on criminals and thugs more interested in enriching themselves than in taking care of their citizens.”
Gambaryan and Binance’s Africa regional manager, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were detained by Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in February 2024 after being invited to Abuja for talks on Binance’s operations.
The Nigerian government accused the crypto exchange of facilitating illicit fund transfers and tax evasion linked to $26 billion in alleged outflows. Gambaryan says this claim reflected trade volume, not illegal movement of funds.
He was released in October 2024 after the Federal High Court dropped the money-laundering charges, citing deteriorating health and diplomatic pressure.
Gambaryan has previously alleged that Nigerian officials demanded $150 million in cryptocurrency to secure his release, claims the government strongly denied.
Information Minister Mohammed Idris described them as “outrageous,” confirming instead that Binance had offered $5 million as a goodwill payment, which was rejected.
The latest $50 million extortion allegation adds a new dimension to the ongoing dispute, suggesting that Gambaryan’s detention may have been used as leverage in financial and diplomatic negotiations.
At the time of writing, the Nigerian government had not issued an official response to the claim.
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