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Nigeria’s central bank has expressed concerns on loss of tax revenue from unregistered crypto exchanges. It had also accused Binance of operating illegally and facilitating illicit flows from unregistered sources amounting to $26 billion. Leading which, Binance was all set to exit the Nigerian market, announcing full discontinuation of all services in the Nigerian Naira (NGN)last week, amid the company facing significant regulatory issues and negotiation tactics in Nigeria. It had officially announced on March 5 that the platform would suspend NGN withdrawals after March 8.
Further in the case, Nigeria has demanded Binance to disclose top 100 users and its six months transaction history, while the executives remain detained as per a Financial Times report.
The names of two executives from the exchange who were detained two weeks ago: Tigran Gambaryan, Binance’s head of investigations, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, the crypto platform’s regional manager for Africa, were also revealed.
Last month, both the execs had their passports confiscated and were held in confinement at a government facility in Nigeria’s capital. The government has been making efforts to revive the country’s national currency, Naira.
According to their families, none of the executives have been formally charged with any criminal offenses. The Financial Times reports that Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency was granted permission to detain both Binance executives for 14 days, while .A proposed hearing to extend the court order is scheduled for Wednesday.
Nigeria’s request for Binance’s top users in the country is a new developement. Just last week, local reports claimed that Nigeria’s parliament threatened to issue a warrant of arrest for the company’s executives and asked Binance CEO Richard Teng to provide explanations regarding investigations into the company’s alleged involvement in money laundering and terror financing.
How the circumstances will prevail and if the detention will be extended depends upon the upcoming court order scheduled on Wednesday.