Breaking: Nigeria Drops Tax Evasion Charges Against Binance Executives
Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has decided to drop the tax evasion charges against Binance executives Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla.
The move comes just one week after sixteen U.S. lawmakers accused Nigeria of holding Gambaryan hostage, according to a report from Nairametrics.
While Anjarwalla managed to escape detention on March 22, Gambaryan has been held for 110 days.
Despite the tax evasion charges being dropped, Gambaryan will remain in custody due to pending money laundering charges brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
His lawyers have revealed that he has been diagnosed with malaria and pneumonia, raising concerns about his health and well-being.
The tax invasion charges were initially filed against Gambaryan and Anjarwalla in March 2024 by the FIRS, alleging that they had failed to pay taxes on cryptocurrency transactions worth billions of naira.
Binance was accused of not paying value-added tax, company tax, and failure to file tax returns.
Binance said Nigerian authorities have dropped some criminal charges against an executive at the world’s biggest crypto exchange who has been imprisoned in the country since April https://t.co/HCMq2GMlMp
— Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) June 14, 2024
Gambaryan’s legal troubles began earlier when he was taken into custody by Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the EFCC, on money laundering charges. After spending several days in detention, he was released on bail.
He first appeared before court on the money laundering charges on February 22, 2024.
The Nigerian government has been cracking down on cryptocurrency trading platforms, accusing them of influencing foreign exchange rates.
The EFCC is separately prosecuting Binance and its executives
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