According to a report by CoinDesk, the tax charges against two senior executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) of Nigeria have been dropped. FIRS has agreed to amend the charges to only target Binance. Gambaryan no longer needs to appear in court for the FIRS case, and Binance is now the sole defendant in the case.
Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were invited by the Nigerian government to attend a high-level meeting in February this year regarding compliance issues of Binance in the country. However, Nigeria later accused the exchange of destabilizing the country’s currency, alleging crimes such as money laundering and tax evasion, and detained these two senior executives. Several U.S. political figures urged President Joe Biden last week to be concerned about the case and described the Nigerian authorities’ charges as “baseless”.
While the tax charges have been dropped, the money laundering-related case is still proceeding as planned, with Gambaryan and Anjarwalla still being defendants in the case. The next hearing for this case is scheduled for June 19, where applications regarding the enforcement of fundamental rights orders will be heard. The trial will continue on June 20. Gambaryan is currently being held at the Kuje Prison.
Related reports: “The Wall Street Journal: Nigeria’s Currency Crisis, Should Binance Be Blamed?” and “U.S. Political Figures Urge President to Ensure the Safety of Binance Executives Detained by Nigerian Authorities”.