A federal high court in Abuja has ordered Binance Holdings Limited to provide the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with the comprehensive data or information of all persons from Nigeria trading on its platform.
Justice Emeka Nwite granted the interim order after ruling on the ex parte motion moved by the lawyer representing the anti-corruption body, Ekele Iheanacho.
“The applicant’s application dated and filed 29th February 2024, is hereby granted as prayed,” the judge held.
“That an order of this honourable court is hereby made directing the operators of Binance to provide the commission with comprehensive data/information relating to all persons from Nigeria trading on its platform.”
The ex-parte motion, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/259/2024, was brought pursuant to Sections 6(b), (h), (I), 7(1), (a)(2), and 38 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Establishment Act, 2004 and Section 15 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 (as amended) and the inherent powers of the court.
In the affidavit in support of the motion deposed to by Hamma Bello, an operative of the EFCC, he said he was attached to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the commission domiciled in the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
Bello stated that, following the inauguration of the Technical Committee on Currency Stability and Forex Manipulation by the ONSA, the SIT “received an intelligence stating the nefarious activities (money laundering and terrorism financing) on Binance, a crypto currency exchange platform.
A certified true copy of the ruling, delivered on February 29, 2024, revealed the details of the ex-parte motion marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/259/2024. This motion was filed under Sections 6(b), (h), (I), 7(1), (a)(2), and 38 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Establishment Act, 2004, as well as Section 15 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 (as amended), and the inherent powers of the court.
In the supporting affidavit sworn by Hamma Bello, an operative of the EFCC attached to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) within the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), it was stated that the SIT received intelligence regarding alleged nefarious activities, including money laundering and terrorism financing, on the Binance cryptocurrency exchange platform.
Bello, who said the matter was of utmost urgent public interest, said the data provided would enable the commission to accomplish its investigation activities.
He said it was in the interest of justice to grant the application, as refusing the request would largely hamper the commission’s investigation.
It was reported last week that the Nigerian Government had pleaded before a chief magistrate’s court in Abuja to extend the detention of two Binance executives arrested by the country’s National Security Adviser.
The Binance executives identified as Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen and Binance’s head of financial crime compliance, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan who is African regional manager for the cryptocurrency trading firm, flew to Nigeria following the country’s decision to ban several cryptocurrency trading websites, but they were detained on arrival on February 26.
Reuters reported that the court order granting the EFCC permission to detain the Binance executives for two weeks to facilitate investigations expired last Tuesday and the duo had not been released.
They had also not been charged with any crime.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that the EFCC had asked the chief magistrate’s court to extend their detention while investigations continue, said a person involved in the case but not authorised to speak to the press.
The two executives’ lawyers maintained that there were no grounds
