Binance Executive In Court Over Alleged Tax Evasion, Case Adjourns To April 8

Abuja, Nigeria–  The Federal Government is set to arraign Binance Holdings Limited and its two top officials, Tigran Gambaryan and the fleeing Nadeem Anjarwalla on allegations bordering on tax evasion.

A lawyer to the Nigerian tax agency, FIRS, Moses Ideho, informed the judge, Emeka Nwite, that his client made efforts to serve the charges on Tigran Gambaryan, one of the two Binance executives charged in the case, but was denied access.

Recalled Gambaryan is being held by the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria.

In the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/115/2024, Binance was accused of failing to register with the Federal Inland Revenue Service to pay all relevant taxes administered by the Service.

The FIRS also alleged that while it was offering taxable services to subscribers on its trading platform, the exchange company failed to issue invoices to those subscribers for the purposes of determining and payment of its value-added taxes.

The prosecution lawyer sought the court’s permission to serve Mr Gambaryan with a copy of the charge.

He also prayed the court to allow Mr Gambaryan to confer with his lawyers to determine the mode of plea he would take.

Mr Gambaryan’s lawyer, Chukwuka Ikwazom, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), opposed his client’s taking of plea in the matter.

Mr Ikwazom said he needed time to discuss the case with Mr Gambaryan.

“For another agency of government to say it has no access to the defendant shows the ‘seriousness’ of how the prosecution handles the case,” Mr Gambaryan’s lawyer told the court.

After a heated argument over the failure of the government to effect service on the second defendant, Mr Ideho sought an adjournment to enable Mr Gambaryan to consult with his team of lawyers regarding the charge.

The charge was eventually served on Mr Gambaryan, prompting the judge to adjourn further hearing until 19 April for the arraignment of the defendants.