By Adedapo Adesanya
The Federal High Court on Friday dismissed the tax evasion case against Mr Tigran Gambaryan, and the fleeing Mr Nadeem Anjarwalla of the cryptocurrency exchange platform, Binance. The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) brought the matter to the suspects.
The court made the decision in a short ruling following fresh amended charges filed by the FIRS in view of a notice from Binance about its appointment of a Nigerian representative, Mr Ayodele Omotilewa.
This now makes Binance the sole defendant in the tax evasion case.
Mr Gambrayan has been detained for 110 days, while Mr Anjarwalla escaped detention in March.
The FIRS had on March 22, 2024, filed legal proceedings against the cryptocurrency exchange platform and Mr Gambaryan alleging tax evasion.
On May 17 2024, the FIRS amended its lawsuit, alleging Binance failed to collect and remit various categories of taxes to the federation, particularly the Value Added Tax (VAT) and Company Income tax (CIT), as stipulated by Section 40 of the FIRS Establishment Act 2007 as amended.
In the latest development on Friday, counsel for Binance, Mr Tonye Krukrubo (SAN), told Justice Emeka Nwite that his client has forwarded the name of its official representative to the FIRS and to the court.
Counsel for the FIRS, Mr Moses Idehu, confirmed the same and asked the court’s permission to substitute all the previous charges with the fresh amended one dated June 13, 2024.
In the latest charge, the Binance trading platform is accused of offering services (in the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies and the remittance and transfer of those assets) to Nigerians while failing to deduct the necessary VAT arising from its operations.
The judge also struck out the names of Mr Gambaryan and Mr Nadeem from the case and adjourned it to July 12 for plea.
He added that the lawyers to the parties should file processes on whether the Nigerian representative should be in the dock or not.
Modupe Gbadeyanka