A Federal High Court in Abuja has on Friday, discharged 39-year-old American, Tigran Gambaryan and 37-year-old British-Kenyan, Nadeem Anjarwalla, executives of cryptocurrency exchange platform Binance, from a tax evasion case filed by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on March 22.
The court struck out the charges against the executives after Binance appointed a Nigerian representative, Ayodele Omotilewa, and the FIRS filed a fresh charge listing Binance as the sole defendant.
NewsNGR had reported that US Lawmakers were seeking the release of Binance Executive, Tigran Gambaryan, detained in Nigeria.
In a letter dated June 4 and sent to US President Joe Biden, the lawmakers urged the US government to take immediate action to bring Gambaryan home from detention in Nigeria.
Binance was accused of offering services to Nigerians while failing to deduct necessary Value Added Taxes (VAT) arising from its operations. The company’s executives were detained in February, with Nadeem fleeing custody.
On May 17, the suit was amended to involve allegations of failing to collect and remit taxes, including VAT and CIT, from its operations in Nigeria as stipulated by Section 40 of the FIRS Establishment Act of 2007 as amended.
The Minister of Information, Idris Mohammed, had revealed that Binance had a turnover of over $20 billion in Nigeria in 2023 alone.
At the resumed proceedings on Friday, counsel for Binance, Tonye Krukrubo SAN, told Justice Emeka Nwite that his client has forwarded the name of its official representative to the FIRS and to the court.
Counsel for the FIRS, Moses Idehu, confirmed the same and asked the court’s permission to substitute all the previous charges with the fresh amended one dated June 13, 2024.
The fresh charges read: “That you BINANCE HOLDINGS LTD on or about the 1st February 2024, in Abuja, FCT within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst involved in the offering of services to subscribers on your trading platform, known as Binance did aid and abet those subscribers on your trading platform to unlawfully refuse to pay taxes, or neglect to pay those taxes and in so doing committed an offence contrary to and punishable under the provisions of S.94 of the Companies Income Tax Act (as amended),” Count 4 of the four-count charge reads.
This comes amid a broader crackdown on cryptocurrency trading platforms in Nigeria, with the government accusing Binance of influencing foreign exchange rates and destabilizing the country’s exchange rate.
The EFCC is separately prosecuting Binance and its executives over alleged money laundering and foreign exchange contravention.
Justice Nwite held that the “charges filed on March 22, 2024 and May 17, 2024 are hereby struck out.”
Further proceedings have been adjourned to July 12 for plea and discussions on whether the Nigerian representative should be required to stand in the dock.