A Federal High Court in Abuja, Nigeria, has mandated Binance to furnish the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with data on all its exchange users. This directive stems from an investigation into suspected money laundering, foreign exchange rate manipulation, and terror financing.
During a March 18 court session, EFCC operative Hamma Bello revealed that the agency’s Special Investigation Team flagged suspicious activity and requested the crypto exchange to halt all naira-related trading operations.
Initially, Nigerian authorities sought six months of transaction records for the top 100 local users. However, the request expanded to encompass all Nigerian customers on the platform, with the trading activity scope left unspecified.
The court order came to light nearly three weeks after the arrest of two Binance executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, in Abuja on Feb. 26. The executives were summoned by regulatory bodies for discussions.
Nigeria’s central bank governor, Olayemi Cardoso, alleged that over $26 billion in untraceable wealth flowed through Binance, contributing to the naira’s rapid depreciation. However, Cardoso did not provide evidence supporting this claim.
Moreover, the government threatened Binance with a $10 billion fine for allegedly enabling foreign exchange manipulation by allowing users to swap naira for Tether’s USDT stablecoin in large volumes.
In response, Binance highlighted its cooperation with EFCC, the Nigerian Police Force, and other law enforcement agencies since June 2020. The exchange urged local authorities to maintain a constructive relationship with crypto stakeholders.
This development follows Binance’s resolution of regulatory issues in the U.S., where it paid $4.3 billion in penalties to the Department of Justice and saw its founder, Changpeng Zhao, step down as CEO and surrender his Canadian passport amid ongoing legal proceedings.
