Binance CEO pleas with Nigeria to release wrongfully detained ‘crime fighter’ exec

A tense stand-off between Binance and the government of Nigeria took a new turn on Tuesday as the company's CEO broke his silence about the country's controversial decision to detain two of its executives, including former IRS agent Tigran Gambaryan. The men were held unexpectedly in February after coming to Nigeria to meet with officials about the crypto exchange's purported impact on the national currency.

Binance CEO Richard Teng had been tight-lipped about the situation, including during an onstage interview with Fortune's Leo Schwartz, but on Tuesday he published a blog post that provides a chronology of events and a plea for Gambaryan's freedom. Teng also used strong words to denounce the behavior of Nigeria's rulers.

"The message from the Nigerian government is clear: We must detain an innocent, mid-level employee and a former U.S. federal agent, and place him in a dangerous prison in order to control Binance," wrote Teng. "To invite a company’s mid-level employees for collaborative policy meetings, only to detain them, has set a dangerous new precedent for all companies worldwide."

Critics of the crypto industry may be tempted to blow off Teng's plea, pointing out that Binance for years behaved as a global scofflaw and that its founder just got sentenced to four months in U.S. federal prison. In other words, the company is getting what it deserves in Nigeria. This position grossly misses the point, though, since it overlooks Binance's recent efforts to pursue compliance and, more importantly, it ignores the years of good work by Gambaryan.

In his blog post, Teng describes Gambaryan as a "financial crime fighter." That's a fair description based on his work helping to take down notorious dark web sites while at the IRS and on his work at Binance, where he assisted with numerous counter-notorious investigations. Other cybersecurity figures have told me they have mixed feelings about Binance but regard Gambaryan as one of the good guys.

There is also the matter of Nigeria's leaders. I wrote in March about the leaders' decision to hold Gambaryan hostage, and ridiculed the attempt to make crypto a scapegoat for their economic mismanagement. I also pointed to an FT report that Nigerian officials had asked Binance for a huge bribe—a report that is corroborated by Teng's blog post. In response, I got angry emails from allies of the Nigerian government accusing me of racism or colonial behavior...or something. All I can say in reply is this: If you don't want to be labeled a tinpot country, don't act like one.

Jeff John Roberts
jeff.roberts@fortune.com
@jeffjohnroberts

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com