A Federal High Court has discharged tow Binance officials, Tigran Gambaryan and fleeing Nadeem Anjarwalla from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) tax evasion case against the cryptocurrency exchange platform, Binance.
The court made the decision in a short ruling following fresh amended charges filed by the FIRS in view of a notice from Binance about its appointment of a Nigerian representative by the name of Ayodele Omotilewa.
The FIRS had on March 22, 2024, filed legal proceedings against the cryptocurrency exchange platform and Gambaryan alleging tax evasion.
On May 17 2024, the FIRS amended its lawsuit, alleging that Binance allegedly failed to collect and remit various categories of taxes to the federation, particularly the Value Added Tax (VAT) and Company Income tax (CIT), as stipulated by Section 40 of the FIRS Establishment Act 2007 as amended.
The Minister of Information, Idris Mohammed, had said that the cryptocurrency trading platform, Binance, had a turnover of over $20 billion in Nigeria in 2023 alone.
Following the agreement by the legal team on both sides, Justice Emeka Nwite further adjourned to today, June 14 for the arraignment of Binance and Gambaryan.
At the resumed proceedings on Friday, counsel for Binance, Tonye Krukrubo SAN, told Justice Emeka Nwite that his client has forwarded the name of its official representative to the FIRS and to the court.
Counsel for the FIRS, Moses Idehu, confirmed the same and asked the court’s permission to substitute all the previous charges with the fresh amended one dated June 13, 2024.
In FIRS’ fresh charge, Binance is now listed as the sole defendant implying Gambaryan and Nadeem are no longer associated with its case.
The duo are, however, still defendants in the case filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
