The Nigerian Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has leveled accusations against the Nigerian Correctional Service for its failure to produce Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan in court for his tax evasion case. Local media reports indicate that Gambaryan did not appear in court on May 22 as scheduled to face charges of tax evasion brought by the FIRS. During the court session, the prosecution’s counsel, Moses Idehu, expressed uncertainty about the absence of the detained executive, who was expected to be brought from custody. Idehu revealed that attempts to reach officials at the correctional center were unsuccessful. Consequently, Idehu requested a brief adjournment of the case to address the issue later in the day. However, Judge Emeka Nwite decided to postpone Gambaryan’s arraignment to June 14. Binance’s counsel, T.J. Krukrubo, raised objections to the prosecution’s failure to present his client in court. Taking advantage of the situation, Gambaryan’s lawyer, Chukwuka Ikwuazo, asked the judge to instruct the FIRS to remove the name of the co-defendant, Nadeem Anjarwalla, from the amended charges, as he is currently “at large.” The FIRS lawyer agreed to remove Anjarwalla’s name from the charge sheet. Gambaryan was transferred to the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja in April 2024 after pleading not guilty to money laundering charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission. His bail application was denied, and he remains in detention. The charges against him pertain to the concealment of the source of funds generated by Binance in Nigeria, amounting to $35.4 million. In March, the FIRS filed tax evasion charges against Binance and its executives, Gambaryan and Anjarwalla. The charges included the failure to register with the FIRS, failure to pay company income tax, failure to pay value-added tax, and facilitation of tax evasion. The Nigerian government has accused the cryptocurrency exchange of manipulating foreign exchange rates, leading to stricter oversight of crypto trading platforms. Nigerian authorities arrested Anjarwalla, Binance’s regional manager for Africa based in Kenya, and Gambaryan, a former US federal agent specializing in cryptocurrencies and head of Binance’s criminal investigations team, on February 28.
Binance executive eludes Nigerian prison's attempts to appear in court