Lawyer withdraws as FG gets the go ahead to prosecute Binance, 2 others

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, has fixed April 4 for the Federal Government to arraign Binance Holdings Limited and its two top officials, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, on a four-count tax evasion charge.

One of the defendants, Anjarwalla, who is the Africa Regional Manager of Binance, had earlier escaped from custody, with FG saying it will collaborate with Interpol to arrest and extradite him to the country for trial.

Alternatively, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, permits his trial in absentia.

In the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/115/2024, FG alleged that Binance which has many subscribers from Nigeria, operated illegally in the country as it neither registered to conduct businesses in Nigeria nor paid any tax to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS.

FG further alleged that while offering taxable services to subscribers on the trading platform known as Binance, the defendants failed to issue invoices to those subscribers for the purposes of determining and payment of their value-added taxes (VATs).

In count three of the charge, FG accused the defendants of offering services to subscribers on their trading platform in the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies and in the remittance and transfer of those assets, and having offered those services, was obliged to deduct VATs, and did fail to deduct necessary VATs arising from their operations.

The defendants were also alleged to have while involved in the offering of services to subscribers on their trading platform, did aid and abet those subscribers to unlawfully refuse to pay taxes, or neglect to pay those taxes.

The offences allegedly committed by the defendants, are punishable under Sections 8 and 29 of the VAT Act of 1993 (as Amended), Section 40 of the FIRS Establishment Act, 2007 (as amended) and under provisions of Section 94 of the Companies Income Tax Act (as amended) respectively.

Besides, in an affidavit deposed to by Mercy Aliyu, a legal officer with the FIRS’ Litigation and Prosecution Department, the prosecution told the court that investigations that culminated to the charge had substantially been concluded.

“There are reasonable grounds that a prima facie case of tax evasion exists against the accused persons,” the deponent averred.

The defendants will take their plea before trial Justice Emeka Nwite.

The court had earlier ordered Binance to furnish the EFCC with the comprehensive data or information of all persons from Nigeria trading on its platform as we as all its transaction history for the past six months.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso had on February 27, disclosed that about $26billion passed through Binance from unidentified sources.

FG said it was investigating the possibility that the platform was used for money laundering and terrorism financing.

Following a failed negotiation, the crypto firm, on March 8, discontinued all transactions in naira on its exchange platform, following reports that the government demanded $10bn as retribution for profiting from “its illegal transactions” in Nigeria.

Meantime, the lawyers representing the fleeing Binance official, Anjarwalla, have pulled out from a fundamental right enforcement suit he earlier filed to secure his release from detention.

Both Anjarwalla and Gambaryan who was in charge of Binance’s financial crime compliance units, in their suits marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/356/24 and FHC/ABJ/CS/355/24, sued the Office of National Security Adviser(ONSA) and the EFCC, as 1st and 2nd respondents.

Gambaryan, in his application, sought a declaration that his detention and the seizure of his international travel passport, contravened Section 35 (1) and (4) of 1999 Constitution (As Amended).

He said the act amounted to a violation of his fundamental right to personal liberty as guaranteed by the constitution.

He also sought an order directing the respondents to release him from their custody and return his international travel passport with immediate effect.

Gambaryan equally sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining the respondents and agents from further detaining him in relation to any investigation into or demands from Binance.

At resumed sitting on the matter on Thursday, T.J. Krukrubo, SAN, who appeared for the Applicants, announced the withdrawal of his team from further representing Anjarwalla.