The tax evasion case against Binance and certain of its officials in a Nigerian court has been moved to May 17 for further proceedings. This is the most recent update in the continuing regulatory dispute between the Nigerian authorities and the Malta-based cryptocurrency platform.
Tax Case Adjourned Over Legal Standstill
On March 22, the Nigerian Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) accused Binance and two of its top executives – Nadeen Ahjarwalla, head of financial crime compliance, and Tigran Gambaryan, regional manager for Africa – of avoiding taxes on four separate occasions.
Binance was accused of several tax-related offenses, such as not paying Value-Added Tax and Company Income Tax, neglecting to file tax returns, and helping customers avoid taxes through their platform. The FIRS suspected these actions arose from Binance’s initial refusal to register before operating in Nigeria.
Based on reports from BusinessDay, the hearing for the case took place on April 19. However, Nadeen Ahjarwhalla was absent since he had previously left the West African country. Tigran Gimbaryan attended the court session alone, as Binance had not been served with tax evasion charges by the FIRS, causing Gimbaryan to decline entering a plea.
Instead of “However, the prosecution argued that the US citizen should defend the interests of himself and the crypto exchange against the charges being presented,” you could say: “The prosecution insisted that the US citizen and the crypto exchange he represented had to protect their own interests in response to the accusations. In contrast, Gambaryan’s legal team claimed that since all involved were accused, Binance, acting as the main defendant, should be officially served by the IRS first before Gambaryan could present his case according to Nigerian law.”
After hitting a roadblock in the legal process, Judge Emeka Nwite of the Abuja Federal High Court has ordered that the Binance tax evasion case hearing be rescheduled to May 17. This is the second time this case has been delayed; the first being on April 4 when the Nigerian tax authorities failed to serve the necessary documents to Gambaryan before the scheduled trial.
Binance Troubles In Nigeria Continue
The Binance cryptocurrency platform faces ongoing tension with Nigerian authorities due to allegations beyond tax evasion. The Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) additionally suspects Binance of handling over $35 million in ill-gotten funds.
The Nigerian authorities have stepped up their investigation into Binance following claims that the cryptocurrency exchange significantly contributed to the naira’s depreciation through speculation and manipulation of exchange rates. This accusation came after the detention of Gimbaryan and Ahjarwhalla, who had travelled to Nigeria on February 26th, amidst rumors of the government restricting access to Binance and other digital asset platforms.
Binance has temporarily stopped offering Naira-related services on its platform as it focuses on addressing the legal challenges following the arrest of some of its employees in Nigeria. The exchange’s CEO, Richard Teng, has expressed readiness to collaborate with the Nigerian authorities to resolve these issues.
BTC trading at $64,927.40 on that daily chart | Source: BTCUSDT chart on Tradingview.com
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2024-04-21 13:11