The health of Tigran Gambaryan, an American, is also deteriorating, his family said
Nigerian authorities have dropped some of the charges against two Binance executives, including a compliance executive of the cryptocurrency exchange who has been detained in the country since February.
Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service filed amended charges on Friday, dropping tax evasion charges against Tigran Gambaryan, the firm’s head of financial crime compliance, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, its regional manager for Africa, a spokesman for Binance said on Friday.
Binance itself is now the only defendant in the tax evasion case, a spokesman for Gambaryan’s family said. Binance and the two executives still face charges of money laundering and of providing financial services without a licence from Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The next hearing for the case is scheduled for 19th June, the family spokesman for Gambaryan said. Gambaryan, an American and a former special agent at the Internal Revenue Service for a decade, has been detained in Nigeria since late February and will remain detained at Kuje prison.
Anjarwalla, who was detained together with Gambaryan, escaped and fled abroad in March. "Dropping charges further illustrates that Tigran is not a decision maker at Binance and does not need to be held in order for Binance to resolve issues with the Nigerian government.
We await the court’s ruling on this, discharging Tigran from this matter completely," the Binance spokesman said, adding that Binance is committed to continuing to work with the Nigerian government to resolve the issue.
Gambaryan’s family said his health has also deteriorated during the detention. He collapsed in court on May 23 with malaria and now has pneumonia, the spokesman said.
"This clearly shows that any issues between the Nigerian authorities and Binance can be resolved without holding my husband in prison. I sincerely hope the Nigerian authorities will now see how unnecessary it is to keep Tigran at Kuje," his wife Yuki Gambaryan said in a statement. "My biggest concern at the moment is Tigran’s deteriorating health and the awful conditions he is being kept in."
Representatives for Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Binance and Nigeria have been at odds since February, when authorities there blamed the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange for helping to crash its currency and for an alleged lack of money-laundering controls.
Earlier this month, several members of Congress called on President Biden to step up efforts to release Gambaryan from detention in Nigeria. More than 100 former federal agents also wrote to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to ask him to help with his release.
For any enquiries or information, contact ask@tlr.ae or call us on +971 52 644 3004. Follow The Law Reporters on WhatsApp Channels.
More From TLR
Dh10,000 Fine: FTA Reminds Businesses of Corporate Tax Registration Deadline
Sports Apparel Maker Under Armour to Pay $434M to Settle Lawsuit Over Sales Disclosures
FTA Urges Resident Juridical Persons to Promptly Register for Corporate Tax
Related News
Billionaire in Custody: Former Binance CEO Zhao Begins Prison Term in California
Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao Sentenced to Four Months for Allowing Money Laundering
Binance Gets Full Dubai Licence: What it Means for UAE Cryptocurrency Sector?
We use cookies and similar technologies that are necessary to operate the website. Additional cookies are used to perform analysis of website usage. By continuing to use our website, you consent to our use of cookies. For more information, please read our Cookies Policy.
Closing this modal default settings will be saved.