The Nigerian Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) accused the Nigerian Correctional Service of failing to bring Binance executive Tigran Gambarya before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Local media reports indicate that the detained Binance executive, Tigran Gambaryan, failed to appear in court on May 22 for arraignment on federal tax evasion charges.
Prosecutor Moses Idehu, in court on Wednesday, expressed ambiguity regarding the whereabouts of the detained executive, who was anticipated to be released from detention. He disclosed that endeavours to establish communication with the correctional centre officials had proven fruitless.
Idehu requested a brief pause in the proceedings, expressing a desire to postpone the matter until a later time of the day to resolve. Subsequently, on June 14, Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja rescheduled the arraignment of Gambaryan.
Binance’s attorney, T.J. Krukrubo, SAN, objected to the prosecution’s decision not to present his client.
In the interim, Gambaryan was represented by Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chukwuka Ikwuazo, who requested that the judge instruct FIRS to expunge co-defendant Nadeem Anjarwalla’s name from the amended charges, given that he has been declared “at large.”
With the removal of Nadeem Anjarwalla’s name from the charge document, the FIRS attorney agreed to undertake the requisite actions.
April 2024 saw the transfer of Tigran Gambaryan to the Kuje Correctional Centre Abuja after his acquittal on money laundering charges initiated by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission.
The denial of his parole application has resulted in his continued detention. The accusations pertain to the concealment of the origin of $35,400,000 worth of funds generated by Binance in Nigeria.
The FIRS had previously levied tax evasion allegations against Binance and its executives, including Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, in March 2024.
Failure to register with the FIRS, non-payment of value-added tax, failure to pay company income tax, and facilitation of tax evasion were among the charges.
Due to the Nigerian government’s allegations that the cryptocurrency exchange manipulated foreign exchange (FX) rates, cryptocurrency trading platforms are now subject to stricter regulation.
On February 28, Nigerian authorities apprehended Anjarwalla, a 37-year-old regional manager for Africa based in Kenya, and Gambaryan, a 39-year-old American overseeing financial crime compliance.
