By Abiola Olawale
Fresh details have emerged about the identity of the detained officials of the top cryptocurrency trading platform, Binance.
It has been confirmed that Tigran Gambaryan, Binance’s head of investigations, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British lawyer and Kenya-based manager for the crypto exchange for Africa, are the two Binance executives detained by the Nigerian government.
The New Diplomat reports that the duo entered the country on February 25 to honor an invitation by Nigerian authorities to address the ongoing dispute with Binance regarding its allegedly unlawful operations in the country.
Nigerian authorities earlier accused Binance of devaluing Nigeria’s official currency, the naira, and enabling illicit flow of funds. Nigerian authorities prompted Telecom providers to block access to Binance and other crypto exchanges. This prompted the arrival of the Binance executives in Nigeria to address the issue.
Below is a short biography of the two detained officials of Binance.
Who is Tigran Gambaryan
Tigran Gambaryan is a former US special agent for the Internal Revenue Service — Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) Cyber Crimes Unit who joined Binance in an investigative role in 2021.
Gambaryan has been named the Vice President of Global Intelligence and Investigations. He works closely with the firm’s Chief Security Officer as they lead the audit and investigations team, collaborating with law enforcement to secure internal and external cryptocurrency operations and prevent loss.
He has over 10 years of experience from his special agent role at the IRS-CI, where he led cyber investigations into events such as the BTC-e bitcoin exchange, the Silk Road corruption investigations, and the Mt. Gox hack.
Who is Nadeem Anjarwalla
Nadeem Anjarwalla is a British lawyer and Kenya-based manager for Binance Africa.
Before joining Binance, Nadeem served as a Partner at Global Founders Capital. In this global venture capital fund, he made and managed the fund’s investments across Africa, primarily in early-stage technology-enabled businesses.
He has also served as General Manager at Uber Eats, where he sat on the Sub-Saharan Africa Leadership Team and scaled Uber Eats’ presence in the region. Nadeem holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford University and an MA from Stanford University.
