Tigran Gambaryan, Head of Financial Crime Compliance at Binance, has steadfastly maintained that his accusations against three Nigerian lawmakers—Ginger Onwusibe, Philip Agbese, and Peter Akpanke—regarding a demand for a $150 million bribe to avert his arrest and prosecution in Nigeria for alleged financial crimes are true.
Gambaryan made these claims on his X account on Friday and asserted that the lawmakers requested he transfer the funds to their cryptocurrency wallets.
As of the time of this report, Onwusibe and Agbese have publicly denied the allegations and are contemplating legal action.
In a post on X on Saturday, the Binance executive said: “Many requested that I stay on and provide further commentary on the issues I posted about yesterday. Here’s the hard truth: what I shared was meant to fill in the gaps left by Wired and NPR’s reporting.
“The reality is that last year was incredibly painful for me and my family. I dedicated my life to fighting crime as a Special Agent with the United States Department of the Treasury and as a compliance profession. It was an honor to serve my country and it was a blessing that they came to my rescue and mobilized the full force of the U.S. government when I was in need.”
Gambaryan recalled the pain his family went through during his incarceration.
“Being dragged through court on outrageous, baseless, and trumped-up charges didn’t just hurt me—it also brought immense pain to my family,” he wrote.
“I don’t want to see my kids cry because I’m not around. I don’t want to see videos of my 75-year-old mother on television in tears. I don’t want to see my wife crying on TV. I want to put this nightmare behind me and move on.
“What I shared was factual, based on my personal experiences and conversations with those who have direct knowledge of the events I discussed. Information that was shared with both Nigerian and U.S law enforcement. So please, allow me to leave this behind and find peace.
“I am no longer in law enforcement. The responsibility of seeing this through to a logical conclusion now falls on those still serving in United States and Nigeria.”
