(Bloomberg) -- A former Binance Holdings Ltd. executive sued the cryptocurrency exchange in the UK for whistleblowing, claiming a colleague asked for a bribe from a customer in order to give them preferential treatment.
Amrita Srivastava, a London-based senior employee, said at an employment tribunal that she was unfairly dismissed after raising concerns about the alleged bribery.
She alleged the co-worker took money “under the guise of providing consultative services” to speed the customer’s integration into Binance, all the time pretending that he didn’t work for the company. The colleague has since left the firm.
The tribunal hearing offers a rare glimpse into the secretive crypto trading venue while it grappled with a US investigation. Binance in November 2023 pleaded guilty to violations of US anti-money laundering and sanctions laws and was hit with a landmark $4.3 billion penalty.
Srivastava, who worked remotely on Binance’s Link platform, which connects external brokers and customers to the exchange, is suing Binance Europe Ltd. She said she told managers about the bribery in April 2023, only to be dismissed a month later.
Binance’s lawyer said the company already knew about the incident and that she lost her job for poor performance.
“The decision to end her employment for poor performance pre-dated concerns she raised about an issue that was already known and under investigation by our internal audit team,” Binance said in a statement.
Srivastava joined Binance...
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