The executive of Binance Holdings Limited, Tigran Gambaryan, and his colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla were discharged from an alleged tax evasion charge by a Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday.
Justice Emeka Nwite ruled to strike out Gambaryan and Anjarwalla’s names from the four-count charge after FIRS’ counsel, Moses Idaho, filed a revised charge listing Binance as the sole defendant.
Binance is identified as the first defendant in the amended charge filed by FIRS on May 17, as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). In this filing, Gambaryan was listed as the second defendant, while Anjarwalla’s status was noted as ‘at large’. When the case was called on Friday, Gambaryan appeared in the dock.
Tonye Krukrubo, SAN, representing Binance as the first defendant, informed the court that the cryptocurrency firm had recently appointed a representative in Nigeria.
The new appointee, Ayodele Omotilewa, was present in court and confirmed his appointment. Moses Ideho, confirming the appointment, stated that his office received a notice dated June 13, 2024, appointing Ayodele Omotilewa as Binance’s agent in the country.
The FIRS lawyer informed the court about the amended four-count charge filed on June 13, listing Binance Holdings Limited as the sole defendant in light of this development. He requested that Omotilewa should be brought to the dock to enter a plea on behalf of the company.
However, Krukrubo opposed Ideho’s application. The senior lawyer argued that Omotilewa, who was appearing in court for the first time, had not yet been served with the fresh amended charge on behalf of the company.