The Nigerian Federal High Court located in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, has adjourned its hearings regarding the tax evasion case against Binance Holdings Limited and also its executives by the names Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, till April 19.
In the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/115/2024, the company Binance was accused of evading the registration with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FiRS). The FiRS in turn filed tax evasion charges against Binance in March with regard to four counts. The counts include non-payment of Value Added Tax (VAT), Company Income Tax, Failure to file tax returns and complicity aiding customers in evading taxes through their platform.
A month before, the aforementioned executives were arrested and detained by the Nigerian authorities, but somehow, in the last two weeks, Anjarwalla escaped from the custody of the Nigerian authorities.
At the proceedings on Thursday, there were no sightings of either Anjarwalla or Binance’s legal representatives in court.
Also, sometime last week, in a separate lawsuit, both executives filed a human rights violation to the Nigerian Federal High Court, demanding a public apology from the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to release them and return their passports.
Binance has issued a statement clarifying that Gambaryan should be released as” he has no decision-making power in the company and should not be held responsible while discussions are ongoing between Binance and the Nigerian government.”
The matter was adjourned as the plaintiff was unable to serve the charge to the second defendant, Gambaryan, while being held by the EFCC. During the court session, after Gambaryan was finally served, it was decided for the case to be adjourned so as to give the defendant time to consult with his lawyers.
