• Bribery Allegation Part Of Orchestrated International Campaign To Discredit Nigerian Government – FG

The federal government has accused Binance of blackmail after the company alleged officials demanded $150 million in cryptocurrency payments as a bribe to settle the prosecution of its executives in Nigeria.

The CEO of Binance, Richard Teng, stated on Tuesday that some unidentified individuals in Nigeria have demanded large sums in cryptocurrency in order to “go away” from their troubles in that nation.

Teng’s accusation came after the company’s head of financial crime compliance, Tigran Gambaryan, and regional manager for Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were taken into custody in Nigeria on February 28.

The two executives were detained as part of a probe bordering on Binance’s illegal operations in Nigeria and foreign exchange rate manipulations.

While criminal charges have been filed against Binance and Gambaryan, Anjarwalla fled detention on March 22.

However, Anjarwalla was reportedly arrested by the Kenya Police Service in April and the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) is working towards extraditing him to Nigeria.

In a statement by Rabiu Ibrahim, special assistant to the minister of information and national orientation, the government said the allegation by Binance is an attempt by the cryptocurrency exchange to launder its impaired image as an organisation that does not play by the rules and laws guiding business conduct in sovereign nations.

“In a blog post that has now been published by many international media organisations, in an apparent well-coordinated public relations effort, Binance Chief Executive Officer Richard Teng made false allegations of bribery against unidentified Nigerian government officials who he claimed demanded $150m in cryptocurrency payments to resolve the ongoing criminal investigation against the company,” the ministry said.

“This claim by Binance CEO lacks any iota of substance. It is nothing but a diversionary tactic and an attempted act of blackmail by a company desperate to obfuscate the grievous criminal charges it is facing in Nigeria.

“The facts of this matter remain that Binance is being investigated in Nigeria for allowing its platform to be used for money laundering, terrorism financing, and foreign exchange manipulation through illegal trading.

“While this lawful investigation was going on, an executive of Binance, who was in court-sanctioned protective custody, escaped from Nigeria, and he is now a fugitive from the law. Working with the security agencies in Nigeria, Interpol is currently executing an international arrest warrant on the said fugitive.”

The ministry said the bribery allegation is part of an orchestrated international campaign by Binance to undermine the Nigerian government.

The ministry said Binance is facing criminal prosecution in many countries including the United States.

“Just a week ago, the founder and former CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, was sentenced to prison in the United States, after pleading guilty to charges very similar to what Binance is being investigated for in Nigeria. In addition, Zhao agreed to pay a fine of $50 million, while Binance is liable for $4.3 billion in fines and forfeitures to the US Government,” the government said.

“We would like to remind Binance that it will not clear its name in Nigeria by resorting to fictional claims and mudslinging media campaigns. The only way to resolve its issues will be by submitting itself to unobstructed investigation and judicial due process.”

The ministry said the Nigerian government will continue to act within its laws and international norms and will not succumb to any form of blackmail from any entity, local or foreign.

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a circular, dated May 6, 2024, directing banks to suspend the collection of processing fees on cash deposits until September 30, 2024.

The circular, signed by the Director of Banking Supervision, Adetona Adedeji, was issued in response to concerns raised by bank customers over the collection of processing fees for cash deposits that began on May 1.

Banks were previously required to charge two percent on deposits above NN500,000 for individuals, and two percent on deposits above N3m for corporate account holders.

However, the CBN has now instructed financial and non-financial institutions to suspend these charges until the end of September 2024. This move is expected to ease the financial burden on bank customers and promote cash deposits in the country.

“Please refer to our letter dated December 11, 2023, referenced BSD/DIR/PUB/LAB/016/023 on the above subject, suspending processing charges imposed on cash deposits above N500,000 for Individuals and N3,000,000 for corporates as contained in the “Guide to Charges by Banks, Other Financial Institutions and Non-Bank Financial Institutions” issued on December 20, 2019,” CBN said.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria hereby extends the suspension of the processing fees of two per cent and three per cent previously charged on all cash deposits above these thresholds until September 30, 2024.”

The apex bank directed financial institutions to continue to accept all cash deposits from the public without any charges till the end of the third quarter.

The Central Bank of Nigeria identified transactions that were excluded from the cybersecurity charge on Monday, following the announcement of the levy’s implementation.

Prior to this, the bank ordered all banks to impose a cybersecurity tax of 0.5 percent on all domestic electronic transactions beginning two weeks from May 6.

“The levy shall be applied at the point of electronic transfer origination, then deducted and remitted by the financial institution. The deducted amount shall be reflected in the customer’s account with the narration, ‘Cybersecurity Levy’,” it said.

The directive and the exemption list were contained in a circular signed by the Director, Payments System Management Department, Chibuzo Efobi; and the Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Haruna Mustafa.

Below is the list of the exempted banking transactions:

1. Loan disbursements and repayments.
2. Salary payments.
3. Intra-account transfers within the same bank or between different banks for the same customer.
4. Intra-bank transfers between customers of the same bank.
5. Other Financial Institutions instructions to their correspondent banks.
6. Interbank placements.
7. Banks’ transfers to CBN and vice-versa.
8. Inter-branch transfers within a bank.
9. Cheque clearing and settlements.
10. Letters of Credits.
11. Banks’ recapitalisation-related funding, only bulk funds movement from collection accounts.
12. Savings and deposits, including transactions involving long-term investments such as Treasury Bills, Bonds, and Commercial Papers.
13. Government Social Welfare Programmes transactions e.g. Pension payments.
14. Non-profit and charitable transactions, including donations to registered non-profit organisations or charities.
15. Educational institutions’ transactions, including tuition payments and other transactions involving schools, universities, or other educational institutions.
16. Transactions involving bank’s internal accounts such as suspense accounts, clearing accounts, profit and loss accounts, inter-branch accounts, reserve accounts, nostro and vostro accounts, and escrow accounts.