- Nigerian prosecutors open new legal front, court documents show.
- It's the third action authorities have lobbed at the company.
- A money laundering trial looms.
Nigerian authorities appear to have saved their biggest salvo against Binance for last.
On Wednesday, it emerged that prosecutors have charged Binance with violating Nigerian tax law and are demanding the company pay a staggering $81 billion in penalties, according to court documents seen by DL News.
The sum is almost 19 times greater than the $4.3 billion penalty Binance paid in 2023 after it pleaded guilty to violating US banking law.
Filed during a hearing last week, Nigeria’s criminal complaint accuses Binance of violating tax laws by operating its crypto trading site without registering and paying taxes as a foreign company.
$79,514,055,594.40
The Federal Inland Revenue Service, Nigeria’s tax authority, has tallied what it says are economic losses to the state at $79,514,055,594.40, plus an extra tax fine of $2 billion. The complaint also alleges that Binance engaged in illegal foreign exchange trading.
Representatives of the crypto exchange were not present at last week’s court hearing, a source close to the matter told DL News.
Binance had previously designated lawyer Ayodele Omotilewa as its representative in Nigeria. Omotilewa declined to comment when contacted by DL News.
Binance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is the third criminal case Nigerian authorities have brought against the world’s biggest crypto exchange in the wake of a bitter dispute in 2024 that rocked the market in Africa’s most populous nation.
Trial looms
Binance is scheduled to stand trial on Monday on charges it facilitated more than $35 million in money laundering. It has also been charged with tax evasion. The company has pleaded not guilty in both cases.
Binance has consistently denied all the allegations brought by Nigerian authorities. The company has said the government is unfairly blaming its crypto trading services for undermining the naira, Nigeria’s fiat currency, last year.
Nigeria’s legal assault on Binance became a global story after DL News reported last February that authorities detained executives Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla after they arrived in Abuja for talks with officials.
Both men were charged with money laundering but Anjarwalla escaped custody and fled the country in March. The British lawyer will be tried in absentia next week.
$5 million payoff
Ailing from malaria and other maladies, Gambaryan was imprisoned for months until Nigerian prosecutors dropped charges and released him in October at the behest of the Biden administration.
On Friday, Nigeria’s Information Ministry accused Binance of trying to pay officials $5 million to release Gambaryan.
The authorities have not charged Binance with the allegation.
Osato Avan-Nomayo is our Nigeria-based DeFi correspondent. He covers DeFi and tech. Got a tip? please contact him at osato@dlnews.com.
