Nigerian court says it will begin hearing Binance tax evasion case in October

A court in Nigeria has said it will begin a trial against cryptocurrency exchange Binance over tax evasion charges on Oct. 11, the judge hearing the matter said on Friday.

The Binance executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, face separate trials on charges of tax evasion and money laundering. Teng emphasized that Binance is challenging these allegations.

Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen and head of financial crime compliance at Binance, was held in Nigeria for over two months, while Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan regional manager for Africa, fled the country in March.

Teng revealed that Binance executives initially engaged in discussions with Nigerian authorities in January, followed by a subsequent meeting on February 26. During this meeting,

Nigerian authorities labeled the issues concerning Binance as matters of national security. They demanded the delisting of the naira currency from Binance's platform and requested detailed information on all Nigerian users.

The detention of Gambaryan and Anjarwalla after collaborative meetings with Nigerian authorities was strongly condemned by Teng. He stated that this action sets a dangerous precedent for companies worldwide.