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Nigeria's Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has initiated legal action against cryptocurrency giant Binance, unveiling four charges of tax evasion, as confirmed in a statement released by the agency on March 25.
Binance stands accused of several infractions, including failure to pay Value Added Tax (VAT), company income tax, non-filing of tax returns, and complicity in facilitating tax evasion among its users.
This development comes in the wake of the Nigerian government's recent demand for approximately $10 billion in restitution from Binance, alleging the platform's involvement in manipulating foreign exchange rates through currency speculation and rate-fixing.
Nigeria's central bank governor, Olayemi Cardoso, previously asserted that Binance Nigeria had facilitated the movement of $26 billion in untraceable funds in February.
Earlier this year, two Binance executives, identified as Tigran Gambaryan, head of financial crime compliance, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, the regional manager for Africa, were apprehended in Nigeria. Gambaryan, a former employee of the US Internal Revenue Service, was among them.
Their arrests reportedly stemmed from allegations that Binance's operations were destabilizing Nigeria's national currency, the naira, as Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were detained upon their arrival in Nigeria on February 26.
Reports indicate that Anjarwalla managed to evade custody recently.
Furthermore, the Nigerian government has pressed additional charges against Anjarwalla and Gambaryan, accusing them of providing services to Binance users without registering with FIRS to fulfill tax obligations. They are also accused of offering taxable services to subscribers without issuing invoices for VAT assessment and payment.
Nigeria ranks second globally in cryptocurrency adoption, trailing only behind India in terms of uptake.
By fLEXI tEAM