A former senior employee at Binance has reportedly taken legal action against the cryptocurrency exchange’s United Kingdom arm, accusing the company of bribery and unfair dismissal.
As reported by Bloomberg, Amrita Srivastava, a former Binance employee, filed a lawsuit in the U.K., alleging that a colleague solicited bribes from a customer. She claimed her dismissal in May 2023 occurred just a month after she raised the issue with management in April 2023.
Srivastava alleged that the unnamed Binance employee accepted the bribe “under the guise of providing consultative services.” A spokesperson for the exchange reportedly stated that the alleged bribe “was already known” and that Srivastava’s termination was due to “poor performance.”
According to the report, Srivastava said: “I was not prepared to look the other way when someone had defrauded a customer and yet was still a part of the team — some things are just right and wrong, and asking for a bribe and defrauding a customer was not a gray area — it is most definitely wrong.”
Srivastava began working at Binance in April 2022, following her tenure at Mastercard Inc., where she served as the head of fintech coverage for Western Europe.
According to court filings, Binance’s lawyer stated that the firm’s executives were already aware of the bribery incident and had escalated the issue internally. The company maintained a practice of routinely removing underperforming employees.
At the UK’s employment tribunal, compensation for whistleblowing claims is uncapped, while awards for unfair dismissal are limited to £105,700 ($134,170).
Binance’s clash with regulators
In October, ReadWrite reported that the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange was losing the lead over competitors as ramping regulatory pressure curbed growth.
In 2023, the exchange had to leave the Netherlands following the company’s attempts to secure a virtual asset service provider. The local regulator also fined Binance $3.35 million for offering its services without complying with local registration requirements.
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