A senior executive at Binance, Tigran Gambaryan once again defended his explosive claim that three Nigerian lawmakers demanded a $150 million bribe from him to halt his arrest and prosecution.
Gambaryan, speaking through a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, reiterated that his allegation was based on the truth of the events he experienced in Nigeria, and that he had shared his story with both Nigerian and U.S. law enforcement agencies.
“I stand by everything I shared, it is factual,” Gambaryan insisted in his post.
“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 US law enforcement.”
NewsDirect reports that this follows his original accusation made on Friday, in which he named Representatives Philip Agbese, Ginger Onwusibe, and Peter Akpanke as the lawmakers who allegedly demanded the bribe.
The claim has been denied by the accused lawmakers, as well as by the Nigerian government, but Gambaryan maintains that his post was simply an attempt to reveal the truth behind the situation.
Gambaryan further clarified that it was now up to law enforcement agencies in both the United States and Nigeria to investigate the matter and bring it to a resolution.
“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,” he wrote.
The Binance executive also expressed his personal pain over the ordeal, detailing how the ongoing legal battles had affected his family. “The reality is that last year was incredibly painful for me and my family,” Gambaryan shared.
“Being dragged through court on outrageous, baseless, and trumped-up charges didn’t just hurt me, it also brought immense pain to my family. 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.”
Despite the widespread denials, Gambaryan’s determination to seek justice remains firm. He emphasized that his intention was not to keep the issue in the public eye but rather to ensure the truth came to light and that justice was done.
Meanwhile, The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Anti-Corruption, Ginger Onwusibe, has emphatically denied allegations of demanding a $150 million bribe from Tigran Gambaryan, describing the claims as false and defamatory.
In a statement issued on Saturday, Onwusibe, who represents the Isiala Ngwa North/South Federal Constituency in Abia State, rejected the allegations, branding them a desperate move by Binance to distract from the ongoing investigations into the firm’s alleged financial misconduct.
Gambaryan had earlier claimed in a post that Onwusibe, alongside lawmakers Philip Agbese and Peter Akpanke, demanded a bribe of $150 million during a meeting aimed at settling the company’s legal issues in Nigeria.
He went further to accuse them of staging a fake meeting, complete with fake cameras, designed to extort the cryptocurrency giant.
“I chose not to respond initially because the matter is now before the court, but the continued spread of falsehoods and the unfair demonization of my person, my political party, and even my ethnic group, compelled me to speak out,” Onwusibe remarked in his response.
He dismissed the accusations as “malicious,” emphasizing that no such demands were made during the professional and transparent meeting between Binance and his committee, which was scheduled after a formal request by the company for a pre-hearing discussion.
The lawmaker’s statement also said Binance’s legal troubles internationally, citing the company’s founder Changpeng Zhao’s conviction for financial crimes in the United States. “Binance has repeatedly faced legal actions in several countries, including fines for anti-money laundering violations. It is no surprise that they would now resort to making unfounded accusations against Nigerian lawmakers,” he said.
Onwusibe also pointed out that the investigation into Binance was strictly a legislative initiative and was not coordinated with Nigerian security agencies, a detail Gambaryan had previously insinuated in his allegations.
The accusations made by Gambaryan, according to Onwusibe, have not only tarnished his personal reputation but also subjected his political party, the Labour Party, and his ethnic group, the Igbos, to unjust ridicule.
The lawmaker has since filed a lawsuit against Binance and Teng, demanding an apology, retraction of defamatory statements, and a $3 billion compensation.
