The Federal Government has initiated criminal proceedings against Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, for alleged tax evasion.

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) announced the charges on Monday, filing a lawsuit designated as FHC/ABJ/CR/115/2024 at the Federal High Court in Abuja. The lawsuit accuses Binance of four separate offenses:

Non-payment of Value-Added Tax (VAT)

Company Income Tax evasion

Failure to file tax returns

Aiding customers in tax evasion

The FIRS alleges that Binance not only failed to pay taxes itself but also did not register with the agency and allegedly created an environment where its customers could avoid their own tax obligations through the platform.

The lawsuit also names two senior Binance executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, as second and third defendants. The FIRS statement confirms both are currently in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

It would be recalled that, the Federal Government had recently accused the cryptocurrency exchange with influencing foreign exchange (FX) rates, resulting in stricter oversight of crypto trading platforms.

On February 28, Nigerian authorities detained two senior Binance executives: Nadeem Anjarwalla, a 37-year-old British-Kenyan who serves as the regional manager for Africa, and Tigran Gambaryan, a 39-year-old American who is the head of financial crime compliance at Binance.