Trial of Binance executive, 2 others adjourned till April 8

On Thursday, the Federal High Court in Abuja postponed the planned arraignment of Binance Holdings Limited and its two top officials, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, on a four-count tax evasion accusation until April 8.

The matter was adjourned due to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) failure to serve the charge on the corporation.

It should be noted that one of the accused, Anjarwalla, the Africa Regional Manager of Binance, escaped from detention, prompting the Federal Government to arrest and deport him back to the country for prosecution.

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

When the case came up on Thursday, counsel for the second defendant, Gambaryan, Mr. Mark Mordi, SAN, objected to the prosecution’s failure to serve Binance Holdings Limited with a copy of the charge as required by law.

The top lawyer chastised the anti-graft agency for seeking to deliver a copy of the charge intended for the corporation to his client.

He maintained that his client was neither an agent, director, or representative of the company in the country, and hence could not be served on behalf of the first defendant.

However, the EFCC, through its counsel, Mr. Ekele Iheanacho, urged the court to dismiss the objection and resume the trial.

The EFCC’s counsel argued that the second defendant is a company representative and that it was inappropriate for him to refuse to accept service of the charge on behalf of the first defendant.

He requested the court to enter a not guilty plea for the firm.

After hearing both parties, Justice Emeka Nwite delayed the case for a verdict.

In the case filed FHC/ABJ/CR/115/2024, the EFCC stated that Binance, which has many Nigerian users, acted illegally in the country since it did not register to conduct business in Nigeria or pay any tax to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS.

It further claimed that while providing taxable services to subscribers on the trading platform Binance, the defendants neglected to provide invoices for the purpose of assessing and paying their value added taxes.

In count three of the charge, EFCC 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.