A Nigerian court has reportedly delayed the country’s tax evasion case against Binance until April 30 to give time for Nigeria’s tax authority to respond to a request from the crypto exchange.
Reuters reported on April 7 that a lawyer for Binance, Chukwuka Ikwuazom, asked a court the same day to invalidate an order allowing for court documents to be served to the company via email.
Binance doesn’t have an office in Nigeria and Ikwuazom claimed the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) didn’t get court permission to serve court documents to Binance outside the country.
“On the whole the order for the substituted service as granted by the court on February 11, 2025 on Binance who is … registered under the laws of Cayman Islands and resident in Cayman Islands is improper and should be set aside,” he said.
FIRS sued Binance in February, claiming the exchange owed $2 billion in back taxes and should be made to pay $79.5 billion for damages to the local economy as its its operations allegedly destabilized the country’s currency, the naira, which Binance denies.
It also reportedly alleged that Binance is liable to pay corporate income tax in Nigeria, as it has a “significant economic presence” there, with FIRS requesting a court order for the exchange to pay income taxes for 2022 and 2023, plus a 10% annual penalty on unpaid amounts along with a nearly a 27% interest rate on the unpaid taxes.
Nigeria’s legal history with Binance
In February 2024, Nigeria arrested and detained Binance executives Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla on tax fraud and money laundering charges. The country dropped the tax charges against both in June and the remaining charge against Gambaryan in October.
Tigran Gambaryan (right) was seen in a September video struggling to walk into a courtroom in the Nigerian capital of Abuja. Source: X
Anjarwalla managed to slip his guards and escape Nigerian custody to Kenya in March last year and is apparently still at large.
Related: Binance exec shares details about release from Nigerian detention
Gambaryan, a US citizen, returned home in October after reports suggested his health had deteriorated during his detainment with reported cases of pneumonia, malaria and a herniated spinal disc that may need surgery.
Binance stopped its naira currency deposits and withdrawals in March 2024, effectively leaving the Nigerian market.
Magazine: Trash collectors in Africa earn crypto to support families with ReFi
Ukraine has confirmed for the first time that its troops have entered the neighbouring Russian region of Belgorod.
Ukrainian forces have also been fighting in parts of Russia’s Kursk region, eight months after a cross-border incursion, although Russia has recaptured lost territory there.
On Tuesday, Russia’s defence ministry said it intercepted and destroyed 23 Ukrainian drones overnight over the Kursk and Belgorod regions.
Ukraine latest: Putin’s questions over ceasefire
In his nightly video address, posted on X, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed for the first time his troops have been active in Russia’s Belgorod region as they seek to protect Ukrainian towns near the border.
He said Ukraine’s top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, had reported “on the situation at the front, including our presence in the Kursk and Belgorod regions”.
“We continue to carry out active operations in the border areas on enemy territory, and this is just – war must return to where it came from,” he said.
“The main objective remains the same: to protect our land and our communities in Sumy and Kharkiv regions as much as possible from the Russian occupier.”
Last month he referred to “certain steps” undertaken by Ukraine’s military in Russia “a little below the Kursk region” – suggesting a presence in the Belgorod region.
While it is the first official confirmation by Ukraine of its troops in Belgorod, Russian military bloggers had reported battles there in recent days.
Mr Zelenskyy also said that despite Russia’s recapture of areas of Kursk in recent weeks, the operation had a specific purpose.
“Thanks to the entire Kursk operation – we have managed to ease the pressure on other parts of the front, particularly in Donetsk region. It is absolutely crucial to keep destroying Russian equipment and all logistics used by the occupiers,” he said.
Ukraine now says its troops are operating in Russia’s Belgorod region, as well as Kursk
On Monday, Mr Zelenskyy’s hometown held funerals for some of the 20 people, including nine children, killed by a Russian missile which hit apartment buildings and a playground.
More than 70 people were also wounded in the attack on Friday night on Kryvyi Rih.
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Children killed in Russian missile strike
Read more from Sky News:
Defence chiefs meet in Kyiv
Trump issues warning to Russia
Russian forces mounted several attacks on villages around the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, according to Ukrainian military officials posting on Telegram on Monday.
They have for months been attempting to encircle the city, an important logistics hub, but Ukrainian resistance has slowed the Russian advances in the area.
Donald Trump is trying to broker a temporary ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
But the fighting has continued, and it remains unclear whether the US will maintain its military support for Ukraine.
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