A Nigerian court reportedly rules that a detained Binance executive can stand trial as a representative of the crypto exchange platform.
According to a new report from Reuters, a Nigerian court has ruled that US citizen Tigran Gambaryan – Binance’s Chief Financial Compliance Officer – can stand trial on behalf of the world’s largest crypto exchange by volume in the ongoing tax evasion and money laundering case .
However, according to Binance, Gambaryan does not have the power to make choices for the company. As a Binance spokesperson told Reuters:
“We are deeply disappointed that Tigran Gambaryan, who has no decision-making power within the company, continues to be detained. These charges against him are completely baseless. He should be released while talks between Binance and Nigerian government officials continue.”
Gambaryan is being held responsible by the judge because of his position as Binance’s compliance officer, the report said.
Gambaryan was first arrested by Nigerian authorities in April and charged with money laundering and tax evasion.
Nearly a week later, Gambaryan was indicted on five counts and pleaded not guilty. His charges included operating without a license, tax evasion, unlawfully negotiating exchange rates and concealing the source of funds.
Earlier this month, Binance CEO Richard Teng demanded that Nigeria release Gamabaryan and said the company would work with Nigeria to resolve the tax issues.
“Let Tigran go home to his family, and then Binance will go through the same process that we have voluntarily done with the Nigerian law enforcement community over 600 times in the past. We will always work to protect innocent users, and bad actors are not welcome on our platform.”
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