A Federal High Court in Abuja has issued an order mandating Binance Holdings Limited to provide the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with detailed information on all Nigerian users trading on its platform. The court's decision follows an ex-parte motion filed by the EFCC seeking information about Nigerians engaged in trading on Binance.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/259/2024 and dated February 29, was brought by the EFCC under Sections 6(b), (h), (I), 7(1), (a)(2), and 38 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Establishment Act, 2004, and Section 15 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 (as amended).
In an affidavit supporting the motion, an EFCC operative, Hamma Bello, stated that the commission's Special Investigation Team received intelligence indicating money laundering and terrorism financing activities on Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange platform. The team's investigation revealed users engaging in price discovery, confirmation, and market manipulation, leading to significant distortions in the market and the devaluation of the Naira against other currencies.
Bello further noted that Binance's trading volume from Nigeria in 2023 alone amounted to $21.6 billion. The court, in its ruling delivered on February 29, granted the interim order, directing Binance to provide comprehensive data/information on all Nigerian traders on its platform to the EFCC.
