Binance has refuted claims linking its detained employee, Tigran Gambaryan, to its management team, asserting that Gambaryan is solely a law enforcement officer without decision-making authority within the company.
In a statement, the cryptocurrency exchange clarified Gambaryan’s role and emphasized his commitment to law enforcement despite his arrest in Nigeria on suspicion of involvement in money laundering activities alongside colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla.
While Gambaryan remains in custody, Anjarwalla has fled the country, prompting inquiries about his whereabouts, to which Binance has yet to respond.
Binance outlined Gambaryan’s contributions to compliance efforts since his hiring in 2021, including assisting in freezing and seizing assets worth billions of dollars globally.
Part of Binance’s statement reads, “Tigran is a strict law enforcement professional and is not part of Binance management. While he has left the official service of the U.S. government, he has remained fully committed to the role of law enforcement officer ever since, operating as a global advocate for good governance and transparent regulatory financial practices.
“Binance respectfully requests that Tigran Gambaryan, who has no decision-making power in the company, is not held responsible while current discussions are ongoing between Binance and Nigerian government officials.
“In 2022 and 2023, Tigran’s Financial Crime Compliance team assisted global law enforcement in freezing and seizing more than $2.2b worth of assets, including more than $285m in cooperation with United States agencies like the FBI, DOJ, DEA, and others,” it said.
