The head of Binance’s financial crime department reportedly appeared at a hearing in a Nigerian court on Thursday following charges of money laundering and tax evasion.
Nigerian prosecutors have asked that Tigran Gambaryan, Nadeem Anjarwalla and Binance itself be tried for operating without the required license, unlawfully negotiating exchange rates, tax evasion and concealing the origin of illegal proceeds and income of US$35.4 million, according to a report from Associated Press.
However, only Gambaryan appeared in court, while his colleague Anjarwalla fled Nigerian custody last month.
A spokesperson for Anjarwalla said:
“Nadeem left unlawful custody on Saturday [March 23rd]he was not tried by the Nigerian courts and was not informed of any charges against him.”
Gambaryan is expected to be formally charged on April 8 and April 19 respectively on money laundering and tax charges, Reuters reports.
Nigeria has suffered rampant inflation, leading many of its citizens to use Bitcoin and cryptocurrency to hedge against the dramatic devaluation of the naira.
BTC is currently up about 800% in naira terms over the past year.
However, Nigerian authorities have held Binance responsible for much of its currency woes and demanded the exchange pay nearly $10 billion in fines over allegations that it manipulated the exchange rate of its fiat currency.
Following the allegations, Binance has stopped supporting the naira on its platforms.
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