Federal Government to Arraign Binance and its Escaped Executive over Alleged Tax Evasion

The Federal Government is set to arraign cryptocurrency platform Binance Holdings Limited and two of its officials who were arrested in Nigeria: Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla who recently fled the country and is on the run.

The arraignment of the entities is on a 4-count charge bordering on tax evasion.

Binance, Gambaryan, and Anjarwalla, listed as 1st to 3rd defendants respectively, are expected to be arraigned before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

Though the Federal High Court Easter vacation began on March 22 and will end on April 8, the Chief Judge, Justice John Tsoho, directed the transfer of the Binance case file to Justice Nwite.

The case against Binance:

The charges levelled against Binance include allegations of non-payment of Value-Added Tax (VAT), Company Income Tax, failure to file tax returns, and complicity in aiding customers to evade taxes through its platform.

Furthermore, the Federal Government accused Binance of neglecting to register with FIRS for tax purposes and contravening existing tax regulations within the country.

One of the counts in the lawsuit pertains to Binance’s purported failure to collect and remit various categories of taxes to the federation as stipulated by Section 40 of the FIRS Establishment Act 2007 as amended.

This section explicitly addresses the non-deduction and non-remittance of taxes, prescribing penalties, and potential imprisonment for defaulting entities.