A Nigerian court has adjourned a tax evasion case against Binance to next month for probable arraignment of the cryptocurrency exchange and two of its officials, after the trial stalled on Wednesday, according to the judge.
The case languished when authorities failed to bring Tigran Gambaryan, a US citizen and Binance’s head of financial crime compliance, to court. There was no explanation for Gambaryan’s absence in court.
On Friday, an Abuja court determined that Gambaryan may stand prosecution for tax evasion on Binance’s behalf.
In May, Binance CEO Richard Teng accused Nigeria of setting a dangerous precedent by inviting its executives to the nation and then detaining them as part of a crypto crackdown. The corporation is contesting the claims of tax evasion and money laundering.
Binance and its executives, Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan who serves as the company’s regional manager for Africa, are accused with four counts of tax evasion, including failing to register with Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service for tax purposes.
Anjarwalla escaped custody in March but is still listed on the case, without indicating he was ‘at large’ – a factor that could stall trial given that Nigerian law requires that parties must be served before the case can proceed, Gambaryan’s lawyer Chukwuka Ikwuazom said.
The revenue service lawyer Moses Ideho said Gambaryan was supposed to have been produced in court by Nigeria’s prison service and that he did not know why he was not in court.
Judge Emeka Nwite adjourned the possible arraignment of Binance and Gambaryan to June 14.
In addition to the tax evasion trial, the company and its executives have also been charged with laundering more than $35 million by Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). A money laundering trial will be heard on Thursday.
Binance has said it is working closely with Nigerian authorities following the detention of Gambaryan.
