The Nigerian House of Representatives’ Committee on Financial Crimes has issued a final ultimatum to Binance due to concerns about terrorism financing and money laundering. The chairman of the committee has officially summoned Binance’s current CEO, Richard Teng, demanding his attendance at a hearing to be held by the committee before March 4th, or else necessary legal action will be taken.
(Previous context:
Binance Ordered to Pay $10 Billion! Nigeria Accuses Binance of Manipulating Exchange Rates and Depreciating the Naira by 70%, Dealing a Heavy Blow to the Economy
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(Background information:
Nigeria Bans Binance, Coinbase, and Other Cryptocurrency Exchanges: Attempting to Manipulate the Naira Exchange Rate and Exploit Money Laundering Loopholes
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Table of Contents
Nigerian Parliament Warns Binance of Necessary Legal Action if the Summons is Ignored
Ban on Binance, Coinbase, and Other Major Exchange Websites
Nigeria Reportedly Demands $10 Billion Fine from Binance
There are new developments in the accusations against Binance in Nigeria. According to local media outlet “The Punch,” the country’s House of Representatives’ Committee on Financial Crimes has summoned Binance’s current CEO, Richard Teng, on the grounds of alleged terrorism financing and money laundering. They have requested his attendance at a relevant hearing to be held by the committee before March 4th, 2024.
The chairman of the committee, Ginger Onwusibe, has warned that if Binance ignores the summons, the committee will be forced to invoke the powers granted to them by the constitution and take “appropriate measures.”
At the same time, he condemned Binance for repeatedly refusing to attend hearings in the country. It is understood that the committee had sent a summons to Binance’s Managing Director to attend a hearing held on December 18th, following a letter sent on December 12th. However, senior executives from Binance ultimately did not participate.
Onwusibe stated firmly:
Last month, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, publicly expressed concerns that illegal funds are circulating through numerous cryptocurrency trading platforms. He stated, “For Binance alone, there have been up to $26 billion of untraceable funds flowing through Nigerian platforms associated with Binance in the past year.”
In fact, since assuming office in May last year, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has abolished the fixed exchange rate system. In the past eight months, the Naira has depreciated significantly twice in an attempt to attract foreign investment and revive the economy. However, this has led many people to turn to cryptocurrency exchanges to trade at unofficial Naira prices, as the Naira has seen a sharp depreciation against the fiat currency and inflation rates have soared to nearly a 30-year high.
In February, Bayo Onanuga, a special advisor to the Nigerian President, accused Binance of “manipulating exchange rates” and acting as a rate setter. He urged relevant authorities to take action. Following this, the Nigerian Communications Commission instructed telecommunications companies to block several major exchanges, including Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken, on February 21st.
Furthermore, there were reports that senior executives from Binance were detained by the Nigerian Security Adviser’s office upon their arrival in Nigeria after the blockage incident, and their passports were confiscated. As a result, Binance temporarily suspended trading pairs for Bitcoin/Naira and USDT/Naira.
Related reports:
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance, Coinbase, and others banned in Nigeria: Intent to manipulate the Naira exchange rate and exploit money laundering loopholes
Last week, Bayo Onanuga, a special advisor to the Nigerian President, revealed in an interview with the BBC that the Nigerian government is demanding at least $10 billion in compensation from Binance to offset economic losses. He stated:
However, Onanuga later clarified to other foreign media outlets that he never told the BBC that the Nigerian government had informed Binance of the need to pay a fine, nor did he mention a confirmed fine amount of $10 billion. He only mentioned the possibility of imposing a fine on Binance for this incident, and everything is still uncertain at this time.
Binance executives also responded, stating that they have been discussing a solution with the Nigerian government but have not been informed of the need to pay a $10 billion fine.
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