Cryptocurrency giant Binance has confirmed that two of its executives reported to have been detained in Nigeria for over two weeks are still in the country.
Tigran Gambaryan, the exchange's global head of intelligence and investigation and a former crypto-specializing U.S. federal agent, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, Binance's regional manager for Africa, have been detained in Nigeria since Feb. 26, Wired reported Tuesday. The executives are reportedly being held at a government property in the Nigerian capital of Abuja.
Gambaryan's wife, Yuki, was quoted as saying that Nigerian prosecutors have not yet provided information on whether the Binance leaders are facing criminal charges. "There's no definite answer for anything: how he's doing, what's going to happen to him, when he's coming back," she said.
Financial Times first reported that two Binance executives were detained in Nigeria, but the outlet did not identify them at the time. It reported that their passports were seized. The executives were supposed to discuss with Nigerian leaders the government's allegations that the crypto titan was operating in the country illegally.
Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were allegedly taken to their hotels on Feb. 26 after the first meeting with Nigerian officials and were ordered to pack their belongings. They were then reportedly transferred to a "guesthouse" that the Nigerian National Security Agency was operating, their families said.
Stopping short of confirming that the two executives were "detained" in Nigeria, a Binance spokesperson told International Business Times Wednesday that the two were still in the West African nation.
"While it is inappropriate for us to comment on the substance of the claims at this time, we can say that we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to bring Nadeem and Tigran back home safely to their families. They are professionals with the highest integrity and we will provide them all the support we can. We trust there will be a swift resolution to this matter," the spokesperson said.
The FT report was published several hours after Olayemi Cardoso, the Nigerian central bank's governor, said Binance funneled $26 billion "from sources and users who we cannot adequately identify." He also said the country will do everything in its power to ensure that "others" do not "manipulate our markets in a way that ends up distortionary."
The Nigerian government blocked Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and several other crypto trading firms following the Nigerian Naira's downturn. A special adviser to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu also accused Binance of "hijacking CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) role" and alleged that the world's largest crypto exchange by trading volume and other cryptocurrency firms were "trying to manipulate our national currency to Ground Zero."
