Tigran Gambaryan, the Head of Financial Crime Compliance at cryptocurrency firm Binance, has alleged that three Nigerian lawmakers demanded a $150 million bribe from him while he was in detention.
Gambaryan, who spent eight months in a Nigerian correctional facility over money laundering charges before being released following U.S. government intervention, named Philip Agbese, Ginger Onwusibe, and Peter Akpanke as the lawmakers who allegedly sought the bribe.
In a statement on his verified X account, Gambaryan claimed the lawmakers made the demand during a meeting on January 5, 2024, which was supposedly arranged under the directives of the Department of State Services.
“The DSS was involved in the House of Representatives matter. We met with them at their office on Friday, January 5, 2024, as a prerequisite to our meeting with the House of Representatives. They alluded to the fact that we had to comply with whatever the House members instructed us to do,” he alleged.
According to him, the meeting included three lawmakers, with Agbese and Akpanke present under the leadership of Onwusibe. He further claimed that the session was staged with “fake cameras” and that the demand for the bribe was made in cryptocurrency.
“They set up fake cameras and media to make the meeting appear official, but the cameras weren’t even plugged in. As you may already know, this ended with them asking for a $150 million bribe, paid in cryptocurrency into their personal wallets. A Mickey Mouse operation at its best,” he wrote.
Reacting to the allegations, Philip Agbese, who also serves as the Deputy Spokesman of the House of Representatives, dismissed Gambaryan’s claims as false and challenged him to provide evidence.
“I am outraged by the false allegations made by Tigran Gambaryan, an executive of the controversial crypto firm Binance, claiming that I was among those who demanded a $150 million bribe from him,” Agbese told PUNCH Online.
He further stated that he was not part of any official meeting involving Binance executives and emphasized that he has never used cryptocurrency.
“I have never used any cryptocurrency as I do not have a crypto wallet anywhere in the world. I could not have asked for funds to be credited to a non-existent wallet,” he added.
Agbese warned that Gambaryan must either present evidence or retract his claims and issue an apology within seven days or face legal action.
Meanwhile, Ginger Onwusibe, who chairs the House Committee on Anti-Corruption, declined to comment, stating that the matter was already in court.
“I’m already in court with them on this same issue. I don’t need to respond again as I briefed the press on this last year when it happened,” Onwusibe told PUNCH Online.
Efforts to reach Peter Akpanke for his response were unsuccessful at the time of reporting.
Gambaryan and his colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, Binance’s regional manager for Africa, were arrested by Nigerian authorities on allegations of money laundering involving $35 million, a case brought forward by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan citizen, managed to escape custody on March 22, 2024, while Gambaryan remained in detention until diplomatic intervention secured his release.
