- Amrita Srivastava claims she was dismissed from Binance a month after reporting alleged bribery in April 2023
- Binance’s lawyers say Srivastava was terminated for “poor performance”
A former senior executive at Binance has brought an employment claim against the company’s UK arm, alleging unfair dismissal after she raised concerns about an alleged bribe.
Amrita Srivastava says she was unfairly dismissed after reporting the matter to management. According to a report by Bloomberg, Srivastava alleges a colleague solicited bribes from a customer “under the guise of providing consultative services.”
Srivastava maintains she was dismissed from her role at Binance roughly a month after informing managers of the alleged bribery in April 2023. Binance’s legal team disputes that account, saying her dismissal stemmed from “poor performance.”
In a statement, Binance’s lawyer said:
“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.”
Bloomberg reports the colleague at the center of the allegation has since left the company. In a witness statement, Srivastava said she “was not prepared to look the other way when someone had defrauded a customer and yet was still a part of the team.”
This claim adds to a series of legal and regulatory actions involving Binance. In June of the previous year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought a lawsuit accusing Binance of violating U.S. securities laws by offering services to certain high-value U.S. customers on its platform.
In November 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice sought a multi-billion-dollar resolution with Binance—reportedly more than $4 billion—after Binance’s former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, pleaded guilty to money laundering-related charges as part of the company’s broader criminal probe.
As part of the DOJ settlement, Zhao resigned from his role as CEO and later stepped down as chair of the board. Zhao was subsequently sentenced to four months in prison, which he has served.