According to a report by CoinDesk, the tax charges brought against two senior executives of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in Nigeria have been dropped. FIRS has agreed to amend the charges to focus solely on 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 had been invited by the Nigerian government in February this year to attend a high-level meeting 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 the two senior executives. Several US political figures urged President Biden last week to intervene in the case, stating that the charges by Nigerian authorities were “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: “Wall Street Journal: Nigeria’s Currency Crisis, Should Binance Take the Blame?” “US Political Figures Urge President to Intervene in Detention of Binance Executives by Nigerian Authorities to Ensure Their Safety”
