Nigeria’s tax agency is pursuing cryptocurrency company Binance for tax evasion, local reports say.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on Monday reportedly filed tax evasion charges against the company at the high court in the capital, Abuja.
The charges include failure to pay taxes, failure to file tax returns, and aiding users of its platform to evade taxes.
Binance is also accused of operating in the West African country without registration.
The crypto platform told Reuters news agency that it was working with Nigerian authorities to resolve the issue.
The lawsuit names two Binance executives currently detained in Nigeria – Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla – as defendants.
They have been in detention since late February, when they arrived in the country to discuss the suspension of the trading platform with Nigerian authorities.
On Monday, online newspaper Premium Times reported that Mr Anjarwalla allegedly escaped custody and fled the country last Friday. Authorities have not confirmed this report.
Earlier this month, the Nigerian government demanded almost $10bn (£8bn) from the cryptocurrency firm as compensation for its al
Source: bbc.com
