The Federal High Court in Abuja issued an order on Monday directing Binance Holdings Limited to furnish the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with comprehensive information regarding all individuals from Nigeria engaged in trading on its platform.
This order was issued following an ex parte motion filed by the EFCC seeking information about Nigerian traders on Binance.
The suit, designated as FHC/ABJ/CS/259/2024 and dated February 29, was filed by the anti-graft agency 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).
In an affidavit supporting the motion, an EFCC operative named Hamma Bello revealed that the Special Investigation Team of the commission, located in the Office of the National Security Adviser, received intelligence suggesting that money laundering and terrorism financing activities were being conducted on the Binance platform.
He said, “On receipt of the Intelligence, the team began an investigation by conducting surveillance of the activities of the platform.
“The team uncovered users who have been using the platform for price discovery, confirmation and market manipulation which has caused tremendous distortions in the market, resulting in the naira losing its value against other currencies.
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“The damage the platform has caused was clearly explained to the operators of the platform and they were requested to delist the Naira and avail the ONSA of the activities of the Nigerians on their platform.
“The information afforded to the team by Binance shows trading volume from Nigeria in 2023 alone stood at $21.6bn.”
Bello stated that the requested data would help the commission to complete its investigation.
In the certified true copy of the ruling, which was delivered on February 29 but sighted by journalists on Monday, Justice Emeka Nwite granted the interim order.
He said, “The applicant’s application dated and filed 29th February 2024, is hereby granted as prayed.
“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.”
Binance is an online exchange where users can trade cryptocurrencies.
The Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, at a press briefing after the 293rd meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee in Abuja on February, disclosed that more than $26bn was channeled through Binance without traces in the last one year.
Financial Times had on February 28 reported that two executives of the company were arrested and detained after they flew into the country as a result of a ban on their website
