The Federal Government has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to compel the cryptocurrency exchange company, Binance Holdings Limited, to pay $79.51bn and N231m for alleged economic losses caused by its operations in Nigeria.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service, which is the plaintiff in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1444/2024, is also seeking payment of $2bn in income taxes for 2022 and 2023.
In the lawsuit, Binance and two of its executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, were accused of contravening Nigerian laws, including failing to register with FIRS for tax compliance and allegedly causing economic losses to the country during the review period.
This lawsuit makes it the third lawsuit currently before the trial court against Binance.
In a related case, the FIRS and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission charged the company with tax evasion, money laundering, and foreign exchange violations before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The monetary claims in the lawsuit include a 10% penalty for non-payment of taxes for 2022 and 2023, a 26.75% interest rate (the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria lending rate) per annum from January 1, 2023, and January 1, 2024, respectively, among other penalties.
In the latest suit, the FIRS alleged that Binance concealed its business activities in Nigeria, despite having a significant economic presence in the country.
It also accused Binance of breaching Nigeria’s Companies Income Tax Act, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act 2007, the CBN Regulatory Framework for Mobile Money Services, and the CIT Significant Economic Presence Order.
