Nigerian Court Postpones Hearings for Binance Executives

A Nigerian court has charged Binance and two of its executives imprisoned in the nation for tax evasion

Binance Executive’s Tax Evasion Case Delay in Nigerian Court

According to local news reports on Thursday, hearings for the local tax authority’s proceedings against cryptocurrency exchange Binance Holdings and two of its officials detained by government authorities have been rescheduled.

The case was delayed because the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) could not serve the charges against Binance’s Head of Financial Crime Compliance, Tigran Gambaryan, while he was in detention, according to the Punch.

Gambaryan was held alongside another Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, in February, but the latter has since fled. Gambaryan allegedly appeared in court on Thursday.

According to Bloomberg, the Binance Holdings hearing has been rescheduled for April 8, while the case against Gambaryan and Anjarwalla has been pushed back until April 19.

Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Case Against Binance

The FIRS filed tax evasion accusations against Binance in March. The four allegations of tax evasion were “non-payment of Value-Added Tax (VAT), Company Income Tax, failure to file tax returns, and complicity in aiding customers to evade taxes through its platform.”

A month before the FIRS filed their petition, the country officials had held Gambaryan and Anjarwalla. Nigeria accused the cryptocurrency exchange of operating unlawfully and manipulating its economy.

Bloomberg reported that Gambaryan will stay in the custody of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Binance stated in a blog post that Gambaryan holds no decision-making power in Nigeria and should be excluded from Wednesday’s meetings. Gambaryan’s wife launched a petition on March 30 to bring him home.