The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will, on Thursday, arraign Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, two top officials of Binance Holdings Ltd, on five counts of money laundering charges.
It was gathered on Tuesday that Binance, Mr Gambaryan and Mr Anjarwalla, who escaped from lawful custody on March 22 and fled Nigeria, will be arraigned before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court.
The crypto exchange firm and Messrs Gambaryan and Anjarwalla are listed as the first to third defendants, respectively. But Mr Anjarwalla, who the EFCC describes as “at large” in the counts, is expected to be arraigned in absentia.
The anti-graft agency filed a charge on March 28, accusing the trio of money laundering totalling $35,400,000.
Count one accused the defendants between January 2023 and January 2024 in Abuja of carrying on the specialised business of other financial institutions without a valid licence.
The offence is said to be contrary to sections 57(1) and (2) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, 2020 and punishable under section 57(5) of the same act.
Also, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) will arraign Binance Holdings Limited, Mr Gambaryan, and fleeing Mr Anjarwalla on April 4 on allegations bordering on tax evasion.
In the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/115/2024, the three defendants will equally be arraigned before Justice Nwite on four counts.
Though the FHC’s Easter vacation, which began on March 22, will end on April 8, the chief judge of FHC, Justice John Tsoho, directed the transfer of the Binance case file to Justice Nwite, even though he is not a vacation judge.
The chief judge granted the fiat for the judge to handle the case during vacation because it concerns dire national interest.
The FIRS charged and filed the charge on March 22, claiming the defendants committed the offence on or about February 1.
Count one alleged that while carrying and offering services to subscribers on their platform, Binance, they failed to register with the FIRS to pay all relevant taxes administered by the service.
The offences are said to be punishable under sections 8 and 29 of the VAT Act of 1993 (as Amended), section 40 of the FIRS Establishment Act, 2007 (as amended) and under provisions of section 94 of the Companies Income Tax Act (as amended), respectively.
The two cases were fixed for Thursday to allow for accelerated hearing.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Is Anthony Odiong still a priest after life in prison sentence over rape?")