Charges of Severe Financial Crime: Binance will face all due process – FG
From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The Federal Government, has said due processes are being applied in all stages of the trial by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the ongoing trial of online platform, Binance, and one of its chief executives.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stated this in a statement made available to Daily Sun in Abuja by his media aide, Rabiu Ibrahim.
“At all stages, due process has been followed, and prosecutors are confident of their case, based on the facts and evidence gathered. Binance will have every opportunity to defend itself in court against these severe charges of financial crimes against the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The next hearing is on June 20, 2024,” Idris said.
Idris also said Binance, the defendant, has received consular access and all due care, following normal diplomatic protocols and the rule of law, adding that the judge in the case has sufficiently posited that bail was denied because of the flight risk, after a co-accused, now the subject of an Interpol warrant, illegally absconded.
Idris further said it was important that Binance is prefaced as an entity whose representatives have been variously imprisoned, fined, sanctioned, and banned in North America, Europe, and Asia, in recent years.
“Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire co-founder and former CEO of Binance is currently serving a four-month prison sentence in the United States after being found guilty of money laundering, while Binance has openly accepted its role in facilitating terrorism, corruption, sanctions busting, and in aiding and abetting paedophile gangs.
“Law enforcement agencies believe Binance operations in Nigeria are part of a broader international pattern. It will be for the courts here, as in other jurisdictions, to hold the company and its executives accountable,” Idris also said.
