A Nigerian Federal High Court has fixed October 11 as the date to announce its decision on the tax evasion case against the cryptocurrency exchange, Binance. The company is accused of four counts of tax evasion, including not registering with Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
On Friday, July 12, Binance’s lawyer, Ayodele Omotilewa, appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to all charges before Judge Emeka Nwite.
According to local reports, Omotilewa asked for the charges to be dismissed saying he believes it doesn’t have any strong basis, which is similar to the recent dismissal of charges against Binance executives Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla.
Postponing the case to October gives both the defense and prosecution more time to prepare. This follows the June decision by the Federal High Court in Abuja, which cleared Gambaryan and Anjarwalla of tax evasion charges, although they still face separate money laundering allegations.
The legal actions against Binance started in February when Nigerian authorities detained Anjarwalla and Gambaryan during their visit to the country. Nigerian officials have linked crypto platforms like Binance to ongoing currency issues, saying the platform is used for trading the Nigerian naira due to dollar shortages and currency devaluation.
As part of a larger effort to control crypto activities, the Central Bank of Nigeria has told fintech companies to identify and report accounts involved in crypto transactions. A central bank official recently argued in court that only authorized financial institutions should handle Binance-related transactions.