WATCH THE VIDEO HERE Binance Holdings Limited, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to set aside what it describes as the alleged “purported substituted service” of the Nigerian government’s $81 billion economic loss fine and unpaid income tax suit against it. Chukwuka Ikwuazom SAN, counsel for Binance, made the request on Monday, in his motion, when he appeared before Justice Inyang Ekwo. Naijaonpoint previously reported that the Federal Government (FG), through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), had asked the court to order Binance Holdings Limited to pay $79,514,055,594.40 and N231 million for economic losses allegedly caused by its operations in Nigeria, as well as $2,001,000,000 in income tax for 2022 and 2023. These monetary demands and alleged liabilities, seen by Naijaonpoint, include: In the FIRS case filed by Kanu Agabi SAN, Binance, along with two of its executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, are accused of contravening Nigerian laws by failing to register with the FIRS for tax compliance and causing economic losses to the country during the period under review. The lawsuit alleges that Binance deliberately concealed its business activities despite having a “significant economic presence” in Nigeria. Substituted service is a legal procedure that allows court documents to be delivered through alternative means when direct service fails. Justice Ekwo had granted the request and ordered that the substituted service be carried out within seven days. At the resumed court proceedings on Monday, Ikwuazom announced his motion to set aside the substituted service. “Where an order for substituted service is issued by this Honourable Court, service of the order and the process or document to be served outside jurisdiction can only be made through the Federal Ministry of Justice,” he added, according to his motion. On his part, counsel to the FIRS, Chief Kanu Agabi, SAN, told the court that the cryptocurrency firm served them with the said motion this morning. Naijaonpoint also reports that Binance faces separate charges of tax evasion, money laundering, and foreign exchange violations before Justice Emeka Nwite, in a case brought by both the FIRS and the EFCC. Meanwhile, several other countries, including the United States, have also imposed fines on Binance for regulatory infractions.
Binance asks Court to set aside Nigerian Government’s $81 billion substituted suit service
