A Nigerian parliamentary committee on financial crimes is on the verge of calling for the arrest of Binance’s CEO, Richard Teng, and other senior executives, over allegations of terrorist financing, money laundering, and tax evasion.
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has been flagged by the Central Bank of Nigeria for its alleged illicit activities. It says Binance manipulated foreign exchange rates through currency speculation and rate-fixing, which have seen the naira lose nearly 70 percent of its value in recent months.
The committee sent out an invitation to the company for interrogation. Binance opted to send legal representation instead, much to the disappointment of the congressmen.
Binance counsel, Ihenyen explained that the company was apprehensive about sending more top executives to Nigeria, given that two of its executives were locked up last week. News of the detention was previously reported by TruthNigeria.
But the committee rejected the appearance by proxy. “Binance is not here. We have taken a position on it in our last sitting that we are not going to entertain legal representation from Binance, and that position stands,” committee chairman Ginger Onwusibe said.
—Ezinwanne Onwuka reports for TruthNigeria from Abuja.
