The Committee on Financial Crimes in Nigeria’s House of Representatives has called upon Richard Teng, Chief Executive of Binance Holding Limited, regarding suspicions of terrorism financing and money laundering.
According to a local news outlet, The Punch, The chairman of the Committee, Ginger Onwusibe, on Friday, March. 1, at a panel, issued a seven-day ultimatum to the management of Binance Holdings LTD. to appear before the committee on or before March 4, 2024.
The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised concerns on Feb. 27 about Binance, an online cryptocurrency exchange, alleging “suspicious flows” of funds through the exchange in 2023.
Onwusibe reportedly cautioned that if Binance Holdings disregards the summon, the committee will be compelled to utilize its constitutional authority to implement necessary actions. According to the Punch, the committee, through a letter dated Dec. 12, 2023, and signed by its chairman, Onwusibe, called for a hearing with the Managing Director of Binance, scheduled for Dec. 18, 2023.
He expressed disappointment at the Chief Executive of Binance Holding Limited, Teng, for not attending despite multiple invitations. Onwusibe emphasized that it relates to the complete neglect of existing laws governing business and financial operations in the country.
Onwusibe reiterated the committee’s commitment to combating financial crimes, emphasizing that the constitution empowers them to safeguard Nigerians from financial crimes, particularly those involving foreign companies.
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The National Security Adviser’s office has also reportedly detained two senior Binance officials in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, as the nation looks to crack down on cryptocurrency exchanges to tame the speculation about the naira. Binance removed the naira from its peer-to-peer (P2P) service on Wednesday, Feb. 28, amid a crackdown on the crypto exchange.
The P2P feature allows users, buyers and sellers to trade without involving a third party. It became popular in Nigeria in 2021 following the government’s ban on its thriving crypto industry during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
However, in December 2023, the CBN lifted a two-year ban on banks engaging in crypto transactions and issued guidelines for regulating virtual asset service providers simultaneously. Nigeria was the second country to launch a central bank digital currency in 2022. In February, the Africa Stablecoin Consortium also launched the naira-pegged cNGN stablecoin in a CBN regulator sandbox.
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