March 28, (THEWILL)- The Federal Government will on April 4, 2024,arraign cryptocurrency firm, Binance Holdings Limited and its two executives Tigran Gambaryan and fleeing Nadeem Anjarwalla, for alleged tax fraud.
THEWILL, on Monday, reported that the Federal Government, through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), had filed a four-count criminal tax related charges against Binance and its two officials.
The suit number, FHC/ABJ/CR/115/2024,filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, accused Binance of facilitated customer tax evasion.
The charges includenon-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.
While the Government alleged that Binance’s operations violated established tax regulations in Nigeria, it claimed that the cryptocurrency platformdid not register with the FIRS as required by law.
The Government also accused Binance of failure to register with FIRS for tax purposes and contravening existing tax regulations within the country.
One of the counts in the lawsuit pertains to Binance’s alleged failure to collect and remit various categories of taxes to the federation as stipulated by Section 40 of the FIRS Establishment Act 2007 as amended.
Binance, Mr Gambaryan and Mr Anjarwalla, listed as 1st to 3rd defendants respectively, are expected to be arraigned before Justice Emeka Nwite of a Federal High Court (FHC), Abuja on April 4
Anjarwalla, who had been in detention alongside Gambaryan, was said to have escaped from lawful custody. He escaped on Friday, from the Abuja guest house, where he and his colleague were detained.
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