The Federal Government has dragged Finance Holdings Limited to the Federal High Court, seeking compensation of $79.51 billion and N231 million for alleged economic losses caused by the operations of the cryptocurrency exchange company.

In a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1444/2024, the third against Binance, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) is also asking the court to compel the company to pay $2.001 billion in income taxes for 2022 and 2023.

The FIRS also claimed that Binance and two of its executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, caused Nigeria economic losses by failing to register with the service.

Itwas also learned that Binance has been charged with tax evasion, money laundering, and foreign exchange violations.

The charge was brought before Justice Emeka Nwite of the FHC in Abuja by the FIRS and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The suit places a 10 per cent penalty for non-payment of taxes for 2022 and 2023, a 26.75 per cent interest rate (the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria lending rate) per annum from January 1, 2023, and January 1, 2024, respectively, among other penalties.

Binance is also accused of breaching Nigeria’s Companies Income Tax Act, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act 2007, the CBN Regulatory Framework for Mobile Money Services, and the CIT Significant Economic Presence (SEP) Order, which covers any foreign company deriving at least N25 million annually from digital services in Nigeria. (Text, excluding headline: The Guardian)