The former Binance executive who was detained in Nigeria for nearly eight months in 2024, Tigran Gambaryan, has criticised the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), saying the agency lacks the capacity to uncover widespread fraud even if it were obvious.
His comments followed an allegation by the EFCC on January 22, accusing banks, fintech firms and microfinance institutions of facilitating large-scale fraud amounting to ₦18.7 billion by failing to conduct basic customer due diligence.
Reacting to the disclosure in a post on Friday, Gambaryan, who served as head of financial crime compliance at Binance, dismissed the claims, arguing that the anti-graft agency would still fail to identify fraud even if it were plainly visible.
“EFCC couldn’t detect widespread fraud if it came with a name tag and waved at them. Why bother investigating when you can just peddle BS? Billion this, billion that. Give me a break,” he said.
Gambaryan, a former agent of the United States Internal Revenue Service, was arrested in February 2024 amid a crackdown on Binance over allegations of manipulating the Nigerian currency.
In April 2024, the EFCC arraigned both Binance and Gambaryan, who joined the firm in 2021, on charges bordering on money laundering.
On May 17, the court denied Gambaryan’s initial bail application, but he later collapsed in court, reportedly due to ill health.
His legal team and family subsequently warned that his condition could become fatal if he remained in Kuje correctional centre, with his wife, Yuki Gambaryan, stating that he required a “highly specialised and risky surgery”.
The health concerns prompted Justice Emeka Nwite to issue an arrest warrant against Abraham Ehizojie, a medical doctor at the Kuje facility, for failing to present Gambaryan’s medical report.
On September 2, the EFCC challenged the health claims through a counter-affidavit filed by its counsel, Ekele Iheanacho.
However, on October 23, 2024, the commission informed the court that it was withdrawing the case against Gambaryan, citing factors including sensitive international and diplomatic considerations.
Gambaryan eventually left Binance in June 2025.