The arraignment of Binance Holdings Limited and two of its executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, scheduled for Thursday, was unable to proceed due to the Federal Inland Revenue Service's (FIRS) inability to serve the charge on the defendants. During the court session before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja, only Gambaryan was represented by a lawyer, while neither the company nor Anjarwalla, who recently escaped from lawful custody, had legal representation.
Gambaryan's lawyer, Chukwuka Ikwuazo, SAN, informed the court that his client had not been served with the charge, thus preventing his arraignment. Although FIRS lawyer Moses Ideho acknowledged this fact, he explained that efforts to serve Gambaryan had failed because the defendant could not be reached at the EFCC's detention. The court directed that the charge be served on Gambaryan in the dock, and the matter was adjourned until April 19 to enable him to consult with his lawyer.
On March 28, the FIRS had announced plans to arraign Binance Holdings Limited, Gambaryan, and the fugitive Anjarwalla on allegations of tax evasion. The charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/115/2024, includes four counts against the defendants, accusing them of failing to register with the FIRS for the purpose of paying relevant taxes while providing services to subscribers on their platform, Binance. The offences are punishable under various sections of the VAT Act of 1993 (as amended), the FIRS Establishment Act of 2007 (as amended), and the Companies Income Tax Act (as amended).
