The Federal Government will on April 4, 2024 arraign Binance Holdings Limited and its two top officials, Tigran Gambaryan and fleeing Nadeem Anjarwalla, on allegations bordering on tax evasion.
Binance, Gambaryan and Anjarwalla, are listed as 1st to 3rd defendants respectively, and are expected to be arraigned before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court (FHC), Abuja on four-count charge.
However Anjarwalla, the Binance’s Africa regional manager, who had been in detention, was said to have escaped from lawful custody.
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Although the Courts’ Easter vacation, which began on March 22, will come to an end on April 8, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, has directed the transfer of Binance case file to Justice Nwite on the fiat granted by the Chief Judge, being a matter of national interest.
In the charge, Count one alleged that, while involved in carrying and offering services to subscribers on their platform, known as Binance, failed to register with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), for the purpose of paying all relevant taxes administered by the service.
Count two alleged that, while the defendants were offering taxable services to subscribers on their trading platform known as Binance, failed to issue invoices to those subscribers for the purposes of determining and payment of their Value Added Taxes (VATs).
Count three accused Binance Ltd and the other two 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 that having offered those services, was obliged to deduct VATs, and did fail to deduct necessary VATs, arising from their operations.
In count four, the defendants were alleged to have while involved in the offering of services to subscribers on their trading platform, did aid and abet those subscribers to unlawfully refuse to pay taxes, or neglect to pay those taxes.
The offences are said to be punishable under Sections 8 and 29 of the VAT Act of 1993 (as Amended), Section 40 of the FIRS Establishment Act, 2007 (as amended) and under provisions of Section 94 of the Companies Income Tax Act (as amended), respectively.
On March 18, Justice Nwite had ordered Binance Holdings Limited to provide the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with the comprehensive data or information of all persons from Nigeria trading on its platform.
The judge granted the interim order after ruling on the ex-parte motion moved by the EFCC’s lawyer.
Editor: Ken Eseni
