The Federal Government has called Binance‘s executives before the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations of tax evasion.
Binance and the executives, Nadeem Anjarwalla, Binance‘s Regional Manager for Africa who is at large and Tigran Gambaryan, Binance’s Head of Financial Crime Compliance were to be arraigned on five counts of money laundering and tax evasion before Justice Emeka Nwite on Thursday.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CR/115/2024, Binance was accused of failing to register with the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, to pay all relevant taxes administered by the service.
The arraignment was however postponed due to FIRS’s claim of being unable to serve the defendants.
FIRS lawyer, Moses Ideho (SAN), explained to the judge that his client attempted to serve the charges but was denied access to the defendant, who is being held at the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in Abuja.
Ideho said,
“My Lord, the prosecution has not been able to serve a copy of the charge on the second defendant. As a result, we mobilised the court bailiff to serve the second defendant, but he was denied access, too.”
He then requested the court’s permission to serve Gambaryan with the charges directly.
Ideho also sought to allow Gambaryan to consult with his lawyers and determine how he would plead.
However, Gambaryan’s lawyer, Chukwuka Ikwazom, objected to his client entering a plea at this stage.
He argued that he needed more time to discuss the case with Gambaryan before proceeding.
After a tense exchange regarding the unserved charges, Ideho requested a postponement.
He proposed the delay to allow Gambaryan time to consult with his legal team and review the charges.
The judge, acknowledging the situation, granted the adjournment. The case was then adjourned to April 19th.
