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Nigeria seeks to prosecute executives of cryptocurrency exchange Binance for alleged money laundering and tax evasion
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian authorities asked in court Thursday that cryptocurrency exchange Binance and two of its executives stand trial for alleged money laundering and tax evasion, the first legal step after weeks of a criminal investigation into the trading platform.
Only Tigran Gambaryan, an American citizen and Binance’s head of financial crime compliance, attended the court hearing while Nadeem Anjarwalla, the company’s regional manager, remains at large after escaping from custody at the end of March.
Nigeria is home to Africa’s largest crypto economy in terms of trading volume, with many citizens using cryptocurrencies to protect their finances from soaring inflation and falling local currency. Authorities, however, said the platform was being used for money laundering and terrorist financing.
In separate charges seen by The Associated Press on Thursday at the Federal High Court in the capital, Abuja, Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency and the local tax authority accused Binance and the two officials of operating without the required license, illegally trading rates exchange rates, tax evasion and concealment of the origin of illegal proceeds and revenues of $35.4 million.
Gambaryan was escorted in and out of the court by anti-corruption agency officials.
Binance could not immediately be reached for comment.
Since Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were arrested on February 26, their trial has been shrouded in controversy after they accused authorities of illegally detaining them and seizing their passports.
Additionally, local media had reported that the Nigerian government had requested the names of citizens trading on the platform.
The Abuja court on Thursday postponed the formal start of the money laundering trial to April 8 after Mark Mordi, Gambaryan’s lawyer, argued that his client could not represent Binance in the case without the company’s permission, something the prosecutor disagrees with.
“There is evidence that the second defendant (Gambaryan) is a representative of the first defendant in this country (Binance),” said Ekene Iheanacho, a lawyer representing the Nigeria Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.