Nigerian prisons fail to bring Binance executives to court

Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has accused the Nigeria Correctional Service of failing to appear before the Federal High Court in Abuja in the tax evasion case of Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan.

According to local media, detained Binance executive Tigran Gambarian did not appear in court on May 22 for arraignment on tax evasion charges brought by the Federal Tax Service.

In court on Wednesday, prosecution counsel Moses Idehu expressed uncertainty over the absence of the detained executive, who is expected to be released from custody. He said attempts to contact corrections staff were unsuccessful.

Idehu asked for a brief moratorium on the case to temporarily adjourn the matter to resolve the issue. However, Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja postponed Gambarian’s arraignment to June 14.

Binance’s lawyer, TJ Krukrubo, SAN, disputed the prosecution’s failure to present his client.

Meanwhile, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Chukwuka Ikwuazo, representing Gambaryan, seized the opportunity to ask the judge to direct the FIRS to remove the name of co-accused Nadeem Anjarwalla from the amended charge. overall.”

FIRS lawyers agreed to take necessary steps to remove Nadeem Anjarwalla’s name from the complaint.

Related: Binance.US wins appeal to restore Florida financial services license.

Tigran Gambarian was transferred to Kuje Correctional Center in Abuja in April 2024 after pleading not guilty to money laundering charges brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

His bail application was rejected and he remains in custody. The charges relate to concealing the source of funds totaling $35.4 million generated by Binance in Nigeria.

Previously, FIRS had filed tax evasion charges against Binance and its executives, including Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, in March 2024. The charges included failing to register with FIRS, failing to pay company income tax, failing to pay VAT and facilitating tax evasion.

The Nigerian government has tightened its oversight of cryptocurrency trading platforms, accusing them of influencing foreign exchange (FX) rates.

On February 28, Nigerian authorities detained Anzarwala (37), a British-Kenyan African regional manager, and Gambarian (39), a U.S. financial crimes investigator.

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