Nigerian Court Postpones Binance Tax Evasion Trial Due to Failure to Present Tigran Gambaryan
The trial hearing for the tax evasion case involving Binance, a prominent crypto exchange, has been postponed by a Nigerian court until June 14. This delay stemmed from the absence of Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen and Binance’s head of financial crime compliance, during the scheduled hearing, as reported by Reuters.
As of the current moment, there has been no explanation provided for Gambaryan’s nonappearance. Moses Ideho, the lawyer representing the revenue service, expressed bewilderment over Gambaryan’s absence and highlighted that he should have been presented by the Nigerian prison service.
In a recent ruling, a Nigerian court allowed Gambaryan to represent Binance in the tax evasion trial. The trial involves Binance, its executives Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla (Binance’s regional director for Africa), who are facing four counts of tax evasion, including failure to register with Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service.
Binance CEO Richard Teng strongly criticized Nigerian authorities for establishing what he termed as a “dangerous new precedent for all companies worldwide.” This criticism arose from the authorities’ action of inviting executives to the country only to detain them as part of a broader crackdown on cryptocurrency.
In a blog post, Teng expressed that before their visit to Nigeria, Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were assured of “safe passage for their meetings.” However, despite these assurances, the two were “unlawfully detained” by Nigerian authorities, Teng added. Apart from facing tax evasion charges, Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, has also accused Binance and its executives of laundering over $35 million.
Gambaryan was arrested in February and is currently awaiting trial for criminal violations. On the other hand, Anjarwall escaped custody initially but was later extradited from Kenya to Nigeria.
As part of a crackdown on crypto trading in Nigeria, Binance received a court order to remove the naira from its peer-to-peer facilities. Additionally, an Abuja High Court mandated the exchange to provide detailed data on all local cryptocurrency users using its platform.
0 Comments