News
Crypto Firm Breaks Silence On Binance Executive
Published
1 month agoon
By
EditorBinance has said that its employee, Tigran Gambaryan, who is currently held in Nigeria, is not part of the company’s management team.
The crypto exchange giant clarified that Gambaryan, an American, only serves as a law enforcement officer and does not have the power to make decisions.
The company disclosed this in a statement sent to The PUNCH on Wednesday.
In February, Gambaryan and his colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla from Binance Holdings Limited, were arrested in Nigeria on suspicion of involvement in money laundering activities.
Among other charges, the firm and the two employees were charged last Thursday for $35,400,000 money laundering at the Federal High Court, Abuja.
While Gambaryan remains in custody, Anjarwalla escaped and fled the country.
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Despite inquiries by The PUNCH regarding Anjarwalla’s whereabouts, Binance has yet to respond.
Part of Binance’s statement reads, “Tigran is a strict law enforcement professional and is not part of Binance management. While he has left the official service of the U.S. government, he has remained fully committed to the role of law enforcement officer ever since, operating as a global advocate for good governance and transparent regulatory financial practices.
“Binance respectfully requests that Tigran Gambaryan, who has no decision-making power in the company, is not held responsible while current discussions are ongoing between Binance and Nigerian government officials.”
The exchange explained that Gambaryan was hired in 2021 to help Binance fix past compliance issues.
Binance stated that as the head of Binance’s Financial Crime Compliance team, Gambaryan has been a strong advocate for the company to develop policies and build compliance capabilities that set new industry standards.
READ ALSO: Detained Binance Executive Drags EFCC, NSA To Court
“In 2022 and 2023, Tigran’s Financial Crime Compliance team assisted global law enforcement in freezing and seizing more than $2.2b worth of assets, including more than $285m in cooperation with United States agencies like the FBI, DOJ, DEA, and others,” it said.
According to Binance, Gambaryan and his team provided multiple 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 EFCC officials in mid-2023 and, late last year, two full-day sessions for EFCC officials in Abuja and Lagos, with more than 30 investigators attending each of them,” the company noted.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission will arraign Binance Holdings Limited, Gambaryan, and Anjarwalla on Thursday on charges of $35,400,000 money laundering.
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The EFCC, having fully taken over the case from the Office of the National Security Adviser, has detained Gambaryan and obtained a court warrant to arrest and extradite Anjarwalla, who escaped custody.
On Monday last week, the Federal Government contacted INTERPOL and issued an arrest warrant for Anjarwalla’s arrest.
The PUNCH reported earlier that the EFCC is now partnering with the International Criminal Police Organisation, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, the government of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, and the Kenyan government to effect the arrest and extradition of Anjarwalla.
The Financial Times reported on February 28, 2024, that two executives of the company were arrested and detained after flying into the country following a ban on their website.
On March 12, 2024, the FT reported that the EFCC asked Binance to provide data on its top 100 users in Nigeria as well as all transaction history for the past six months.
This request is currently being negotiated between Binance and Nigeria.
PUNCH
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News
Bauchi Commissioner Gifts 3 Students Cash For Prompt Resumption, Ability To Read
Published
1 hour agoon
May 17, 2024By
EditorThe Bauchi state Commissioner for Education, Dr Jamila Dahiru, on Thursday, gave a cash gift of N5,000 each to three Senior Secondary II students of Government Science Secondary School, Misau for their determination to succeed in Education.
Two of the students, Adamu Adamu, Mustapha and Haruna impressed the commissioner for their presence in school in the first day of resumption while Abdullahi Musa marvelled her for his reading ability and comprehension.
According to the commissioner, the gesture was to appreciate their determination to learn as well and motivate other students to emulate them.
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While paying a courtesy visit to the Emir of Misau, Alh. Ahmed Sulaiman, the commissioner disclosed that the Bauchi State government was working with stakeholders from the Misau Emirate to fine-tune modalities of temporarily accommodating the students of Federal Science Technical College, Misau at its Science Secondary School Misau.
She said the college made the request in a letter to the ministry stating that the facility given to them could no longer accommodate their students population, hence the resolve to convene the stakeholders meeting to fine-tune ways of sharing the facility for the betterment of the state.
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She disclosed that government science secondary school Misau, one of the best in the state in terms of befitting facilities has the capacity to accommodate up to five thousand students, but currently houses about three hundred students.
She appreciated the Emir for his continued support to programmes and policies of the government with more emphasis on the education sector.
Speaking on behalf of the Emir and other stakeholders, a retired Director with the Ministry, Muhammad Musa, expressed gratitude to the Commissioner for the honour and promised to assemble critical stakeholders from the emirate so as to arrive at an acceptable decision for the benefit of all and sundry.
News
NDIC Obtains Order To Wind Down 96 Microfinance, Mortgage Banks
Published
1 hour agoon
May 17, 2024By
EditorThe Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation has said that it has obtained Winding up Orders for 96 out of 183 microfinance and primary mortgage banks whose licenses were revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria in May 2023.
The Managing Director, NDIC, Bello Hassa, revealed this at a sensitisation seminar for Judges of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday organised by the NDIC, to enlighten the judiciary on the intricacies of the banking industry.
Hassan said, “As at date, the Corporation had obtained Winding up Orders for 96 out of 183 Micro Finance and Primary Mortgage Banks whose licenses were revoked by the CBN in May 2023, in less than one Year of revocation.”
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He added that the NDIC was committed to fulfilling its mandate of protecting depositors through bank supervision, failure resolution and liquidation so as to boost confidence in the financial system.
Speaking on the role that the judiciary plays in the fulfillment of the mandate, Hassan said, “We recognise the judiciary as one of our critical stakeholders. With this, when cases are brought before them, they can receive accelerated hearing and proclamation of Justice.”
Citing some of the achievements from previous editions of the seminar, Hassan said that instances where liquidation-related litigations experienced delays were reduced.
Speakers of the 36 Houses of Assembly in Nigeria on Thursday expressed support for the National Assembly’s ongoing efforts to alter the 1999 constitution to create state policing in the country.
The Speakers made their resolution known at the end of their meeting in Abuja.
The Senate and House of Representatives are currently working to amend various constitutional provisions, including those regarding state police, financial autonomy for local government, fiscal federalism, and mayoral status for the FCT.
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