An Abuja Federal High Court has adjourned the tax evasion case which involves Binance Holdings Limited and its executives.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) had taken the firm to court for tax evasion.
The case also involves officials of the company, Tigran Gambaryan, and fleeing Nadeem Anjarwalla.
In the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/115/2024, Binance was accused of not registering with the FIRS for the purpose of paying all relevant taxes administered by the service.
Also, the FIRS alleged that while it was providing taxable services to subscribers on its trading platform, Binance failed to issue invoices to the subscribers for the purposes of determining and payment of its Value Added Taxes.
At the recent proceedings, Binance and Anjarwalla were absent and had no legal representation in court.
While talking to the court, counsel for the FIRS, Moses Ideh, said the plaintiff was not able to serve the second defendant, Gambaryan, the charge in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s custody and that that the bailiff was also denied access to the defendant.
Ideh said: “We have not been able to serve a copy of the charge on the second defendant. We mobilized the court bailiff to serve the second defendant but he was denied access, too. I will be making an application to serve him this morning.”
The second defendant’s counsel, Chukwuka Ikwuazo (SAN), did not object to the application.
The trial judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, ordered that the charge sheet be given to the second defendant.
Later, Ideh orally applied for the matter to be stood down or adjourned to allow the defendant to consult with his lawyers.
Ikwuazo did not object to the oral application.
In his ruling, Nwite agreed with the prosecution counsel that the second defendant needed them to consult with his lawyers, having just been served with the charge.
Nwite said: “In the light that he had just been served, he should be allowed time to study the charges. The matter is hereby adjourned till April 19 for arraignment.”
