According to Punch, a committee of the Nigerian House of Representatives has called Binance CEO Richard Teng to attend “on or before March 4″ in order to look into allegations of money laundering and terrorism financing.The Nigerian newspaper posted a statement on its website on Friday stating that Ginger Onwusibe, the head of the Committee on Financial Crimes, had made the call. This came days after two executives from Binance were arrested upon their arrival in the nation after being invited to meet with officials, as reported by Bloomberg.
The nation’s central bank is furious with the cryptocurrency exchange, accusing it of inflaming the economic crisis by purportedly manipulating the exchange rate and permitting $26 billion in untraceable funds to flee the nation as it struggles with a foreign exchange crisis.Nigerian officials have threatened to punish the exchange up to $10 billion, according to a report from the BBC on Friday. However, a spokesman for the president later played down the allegation.
If the exchange fails to meet the summons, the committee will take appropriate measures Onwusibe said according to Punch.
“You cannot run a company with over 10 million Nigerians on your platform without paying tax and having a physical office where Nigerians can lodge their complaints when they experience any challenge with your service,” Onwusibe said, according to Punch. “The era of exploitation is over and all culprits must be held accountable.”
Prior to the deadline, CoinDesk had not received a response from Binance or the Nigerian National Assembly about their requests for comment.