Nigeria slams Binance with fresh $81.5b suit

Nigeria’s federal government has launched another lawsuit against Binance amid an ongoing legal battle over alleged illegal operations and unpaid taxes.

Nigerian authorities have asked a court to approve a whopping $79.5 billion penalty against crypto exchange Binance and compel the company to pay $2 billion in retroactive taxes.

The country’s Federal Inland Revenue Service has also demanded that Binance provide financial records for 2022 and 2023. Government attorneys argued for a 10% annual penalty plus a 26.75% interest on unpaid taxes, citing lending policies from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Binance and Nigerian authorities have been embroiled in legal battles since 2024, following the arrest and detention of two company employees, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla.

Nigerian prosecutors claim Binance contributed to the naira’s depreciation and operated in the country for over six years without a license.

Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were detained as company representatives and charged with multiple counts of tax evasion, money laundering, and other regulatory violations.

The U.S. recently secured Gambaryan’s release, and the former IRS agent has since filed humanitarian lawsuits against Nigeria. Meanwhile, Anjarwalla escaped detention shortly after his arrest. His current whereabouts remain unknown.

Nigeria has also sued the centralized exchange for allegedly offering $5 million to resolve Gambaryan’s case and settle other supposed rulebreaking. crypto.news reached out to Binance for comment on the matter. The company was yet to respond by publishing time.