A former senior staffer at Binance Holdings Ltd., Amrita Srivastava, has initiated legal action against the cryptocurrency exchange. She claims to have been unjustly fired after flagging an alleged bribery incident involving a coworker.
The London employment tribunal has unearthed claims that a Binance employee received payments under the pretense of “consultative services” to hasten a customer’s onboarding onto the platform. As per a Bloomberg report, Srivastava alleged that the colleague hid his connection with Binance and has since departed the firm.
Srivastava, who was engaged with Binance’s Link platform, reported the supposed bribery to management in April 2023. She was let go a month later, an action she deems retaliatory. Binance, on the other hand, has refuted the accusations, asserting that her dismissal was due to subpar performance and not related to her whistleblowing.
Binance stated in a declaration, “The decision to terminate her employment for poor performance preceded the concerns she raised about an issue that was already known and under investigation by our internal audit team.”
The tribunal offers a seldom-seen glimpse into Binance’s internal workings, which have been under examination since a $4.3 billion penalty for breaching U.S. anti-money laundering and sanctions regulations.
Srivastava, a former Mastercard executive, joined Binance in 2022, believing the company was dedicated to enhancing compliance. Instead, she depicted a “disorganized” work environment spurred by revenue pressures, such as filling a void resulting from severing ties with a customer associated with Iran.
Srivastava said in a statement, “I was unwilling to turn a blind eye when someone had swindled a customer and remained part of the team. Some matters are simply black and white, and soliciting a bribe and defrauding a customer are clearly wrong.”
In her filing, Srivastava said, “My tenure at Binance has been detrimental to my career,” highlighting the professional and reputational damage she has suffered.
The UK tribunal’s whistleblowing compensation has no upper limit, potentially leading to substantial payouts if Srivastava’s claims are validated.
Related Topics:
