The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has blamed the Nigeria Correctional Service for failing to produce Binance Executive, Tigran Gambaryan, in court to take his plea in its tax evasion charges.
Gambaryan, who was remanded in prison during the last court appearance, was not produced in court on Wednesday, consequently stalling the court process.
NewsNGR reported that the Nigerian government had accused the cryptocurrency exchange of influencing foreign exchange (FX) rates, and arrested two of its executives.
Consequently, the Nigerian authorities detained Nadeem Anjarwalla, a 37-year-old British-Kenyan, who serves as the regional manager for Africa, and Tigran Gambaryan, a 39-year-old American, who is the head of financial crime compliance at Binance for several weeks.
While Nadeem Anjarwalla escaped from custody, Gambaryan is facing charges in court and was scheduled for arraignment on Wednesday but was not in court.
When the case was called, counsel for the FIRS, Moses Idehu, informed the court headed by Justice Emeka Nwite that the responsibility of producing the defendants in court was on the prison service and not the prosecutor.
Gambaryan was expected to be arraigned for trial bothering on alleged failure to collect and remit various categories of taxes to the federation, particularly the Value Added Tax (VAT) and Company Income tax (CIT), as stipulated by Section 40 of the FIRS Establishment Act 2007 as amended.
Idehu said, “He (Gambaryan) was supposed to have been produced from custody. Unfortunately, we don’t know why he is not here.
“It is their (Nigeria Correctional Service) responsibility to bring the defendant. They have him,” he informed the court.
He added, “We are definitely looking at possibly not being able to go on today.
“We shall take steps to communicate to the Nigerian Correctional Service to produce him on the next adjourned date.”
Counsel for Binance, T.J. Krukrubo (SAN), seized the opportunity to protest the failure of the prosecution to produce his client in court for arraignment.
Similarly, Gambaryan’s lawyer, Chukwuka Ikwuazo (SAN), prayed the court to compel the FIRS to excise the name of co-defendant, Nadeem Anjarwalla, from the amended charge since he is declared to be “at large.”
The FIRS’s lawyer agreed to remove his name while Justice Emeka Nwite further adjourned to June 14 for arraignment.