A court in Nigeria has ordered Binance to provide the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with all details of every Nigerian trade on its platform.
On Monday, local news portal Peoples Gazette reported that Judge Emeka Nwite issued the interim order in response to an application by EFCC lawyer Ekele Iheanacho. The motion was based on the Economic and Financial Crimes Act of 2004 and a specific section of the Prevention and Prohibition of Money Laundering Act of 2022.
It is well known that researcher and member of the EFCC Special Investigation Team, Hamma Bello, provided the team with intelligence information regarding immoral activities on Binance.
After receiving the information, the team launched an investigation into the platform’s activities. They determined that traders on the platform were using it for activities such as price discovery, confirmation and market manipulation. According to Bello, these activities led to significant market disruptions, resulting in the Naira losing value against other currencies.
Bello said that any data provided by Binance would help the Commission further investigate the case. Binance did not respond to Cryptonews ‘ request for comment pending an official press release.
Nigerian authorities demand information from Binance on top users
Earlier this month, Nigerian authorities asked Binance to provide detailed information on the top 100 users in Nigeria. The exchange was also asked for a full transaction history for the past six months.
In addition, Nigeria imposed a $10 billion fine on Binance because of the exchange’s impact on the country’s economy. Authorities allege that Binance facilitated illegal transactions, harming national interests.
Nigerian authorities are imprisoning Binance employees.
Two Binance employees are currently being detained in Nigeria as a result of a conflict between the government and the cryptocurrency exchange. According to a court decision, they are to be arrested by March 20.
They were detained on February 26 after the government accused Binance of crashing Naira. Binance subsequently removed Naira from its peer-to-peer (P2P) service.
This week, the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission proposed changes to the regulatory framework for platforms providing crypto services. Among them was a significant increase in registration fees for exchanges. The move indicates a stricter approach to regulating the cryptocurrency sector.
