Subject to no alterations, the Abuja Federal High Court has arranged the appearance of two Binance executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, for Thursday.
Gambaryan and Anjarwalla will face charges before Justice Emeka Nwite on separate accusations. One filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) concerns money laundering and comprises five counts. The other charge, by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), encompasses four counts, alleging various tax violations.
Anjarwalla, who evaded custody on March 22, will be presented before Justice Nwite in his absence.
The EFCC, in its indictment filed on March 28, alleges that the Binance executives laundered approximately $35.4 million.
In the first count of the charges, the defendants are accused of engaging in specialized financial activities without a valid license between January 2023 and January 2024 in Abuja. The EFCC asserts that this contravenes Section 57(1) and (2) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020 and is punishable under Section 57(5) of the same Act.
Regarding the FIRS charge, filed on March 22 under reference FHC/ABJ/CR/115/2024, the defendants are accused of committing the offense around February 1 this year. In the first count, they are charged with failing to register with the FIRS to pay applicable taxes while operating and offering services to subscribers on their platform (Binance).
The FIRS contends that this act violates Sections 8 and 29 of the Value Added Tax (VAT) Act of 1993 (as amended), Section 40 of the FIRS Establishment Act, 2007 (as amended), and Section 94 of the Companies Income Tax Act (as amended).
On March 18, Justice Nwite had instructed Binance to furnish the EFCC with comprehensive data or information concerning all those trading on its platform from Nigeria. This interim order was granted in response to an ex-parte motion filed by EFCC’s lawyer, Ekele Iheanacho, to facilitate the investigation into alleged money laundering and terrorism financing activities purportedly being facilitated on Binance’s platform.