The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Binance Richard Teng, has alleged that some officials of the Nigerian government demanded a bribe from the company to make their investigation “go away.”
According to Teng in a blog post on Tuesday, the company had engaged with some government officials on January 8 in Abuja, during which the organization was accused of criminal activities bordering on illegal operations in the country and foreign exchange rate manipulations.
He added that after the meeting with the Nigerian authorities, they were approached by unknown persons who claimed to be representatives of the government officials and suggested to them to make a payment in settlement of the allegations within 48 hours of making the request.
Teng, however, said the offer was rejected through their legal counsel, who demanded an open and official settlement of all pending issues.
The Binance CEO in his blog post added that despite multiple requests, the organization is yet to receive details of the allegations.
According to him, the organization “inquired if there was an opportunity to submit our responses in writing and in the absence of a public hearing”.
“There were a number of reasons for that, including the sensitivity of the information and getting the opportunity to see the allegations in full and prepare a thorough substantive response,” he said.
“The meeting ended with the Chair confirming they would consider the matter and revert through Binance’s local counsel.
“However, as our employees were leaving the venue, they were approached by unknown persons who suggested to them to make a payment in settlement of the allegations.
“Later that day, our local counsel — representing us at that time — was summoned by the Committee through someone purporting to be their agent, who relayed the Committee’s terms and instructed our local counsel to advise us.
“Counsel reported back that he had been presented with a demand for a significant payment in cryptocurrency to be paid in secret within 48 hours to make these issues go away and that our decision was expected by the morning.
“Our team grew increasingly concerned about their safety in Nigeria and immediately departed.”
Teng added that the said payment request was declined “via our counsel, not viewing it to be a legitimate settlement offer”.
The CEO said Binance clarified that it would engage in settlement negotiations on the conditions that the relevant petition or the details of all allegations were seen.
In addition, he said any settlement “must be official, recorded in writing, and signed by all relevant parties.”