The Nigerian government’s arraignment of Binance and two executives, Nadeem Anjarwalla and Tigran Gambaryan, which was scheduled for today, Thursday, April 4, 2024, did not proceed as planned.
According to local news outlet News Diary Online, the nation’s tax authority, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), did not adequately serve the executives with the charges against them.
Mr Gambaryan’s attorney, Chukwuka Ikwuazo, SAN, informed the court of this development and argued that the arraignment could not proceed under such circumstances.
In response, Moses Ideho, the FIRS lawyer, acknowledged the failure to serve Gambaryan with the charges; he cited difficulties in reaching him while he was in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Mr Ideho then requested that the court serve Gambaryan before the court, and the judge granted that the charge be served to him right there in the dock. He also sought an adjournment of the case to allow the defendant to consult with his attorney.
Gambaryan’s lawyer also consented to the adjournment, leading to the case being postponed until April 19 for Gambaryan to enter his plea.
Notably, only one defendant, represented by legal counsel, was reportedly present during the plea hearing. Neither Anjarwalla nor his counsel were present.
The legal drama follows Binance’s recent ban in Nigeria and the government’s subsequent detention of its executives. The authorities had invited its executives for a discussion but seized their passports and detained them for questioning.
DeFi Planet reported recently that the drama escalated two weeks ago when the Nigerian authorities filed four count charges, including tax evasion, against Binance and the two executives.
Binance also broke silence on the matter yesterday, explaining in a statement that the executives are not in a position to account for the information the Nigerian government demanded. The exchange claimed that the executives had no decision-making authority in the company and, as such, were not liable for the charges against them.
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