April 18, (THEWILL)- Cryptocurrency trading firm, Binance, says the company is actively working with the Federal Government of Nigeria to facilitate the release of Tigran Gambaryan, the Head of the crypto exchange’s financial crime compliance unit.
THEWILL reports that a Federal High Court in Abuja had on April 8, ordered that Gambaryan be remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre pending a ruling on his bail application following alleged charges of complicity in money laundering filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The Federal Government through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) had also filed a five-count charge against Binance, two executives including Gambaryan and fleeing Nadeem Anjarwalla.
In the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/115/2024, the Federal Government accused Binance of facilitated customer tax evasion, including non-payment of Value Added Tax (VAT); failure to file tax returns; non-payment of Company Income Tax (CIT) evasion and complicity in aiding customers to evade taxes through its platform among others.
Speaking with newsmen at the Token2049 Crypto Conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), CEO of Binance, Richard Teng, hinted at collaborative efforts between Binance and the Nigerian government to resolve the issue.
“What I can say is we are working very closely with the Nigerian authorities to try to resolve the matter.
“This was a one-off. It’s never happened to us before”, Vishal Sacheendran, the company’s Head of Regional Markets, added in his statement to Reuters.
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