Federal Government to Arraign Binance Executives Over Money Laundering

The Abuja Federal High Court is to arraign Binance executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla.

Gambaryan and Anjarwalla will be charged before Justice Emeka Nwite on two separate charges.

The one filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, which bothers on money laundering, has five counts.

The other charge, filed by the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, has four counts, in which they were accused of sundry tax infractions.

Anjarwalla who escaped custody on March 22 will be arraigned before Justice Nwite in absentia.

In its charge filed on March 28, the EFCC accused Binance executives of laundering about $35,400,000.

The defendants, in count one of the charges, are alleged to have, between January 2023 and January 2024 in Abuja, carried out the specialized business of other financial institutions without a valid license.

In the charge by the FIRS, the defendants were alleged to have committed the offense on or about February 1 this year.

In count one, the defendants are accused of failing to register with the FIRS to pay all relevant taxes while carrying out and offering services to subscribers on their platform (Binance).

The judge granted the interim order in a ruling on an ex-parte motion filed by EFCC’s lawyer, Ekele Iheanacho.

The judge said the interim order was to enable the EFCC to investigate its claim that money laundering and terrorism financing activities were being allowed on Binance’s platform