On April 8, a Nigerian court in Abuja heard the charges against Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan brought by the country’s authorities. During the hearing, Gambaryan denied the accusations and requested to be released on bail.
A top executive from Binance U.S. appeared in a Nigerian Federal High Court and entered a plea of not guilty to accusations of money laundering. The Nigerian authorities have initiated legal action against the cryptocurrency exchange with this charge as the first step in their case.
Gambaryan’s lawyer contended that his client should not be held accountable for Binance Holdings Limited’s actions since the company was not properly served with legal documents by prosecutors in their case. On April 3, Binance Holdings made a polite request for Gambaryan’s release, pointing out that he did not hold any decision-making role within the crypto firm.
Despite arguments from lawyers representing Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that constitutional provisions permit the indictment of corporate executives, Justice Emeka Nwite confirmed the legality of the prosecution. Previous challenges to the case in a magistrate court were previously overruled.
After the judgment, Gambaryan was taken into custody at Kuje prison, and the court delayed its decision on his bid for bail until April 18. As reported by Nigerian newspaper Punch, the proceedings are set to reconvene on May 2.
40 days in Nigeria for Binance execs
Gambaryan has been held in Nigerian jail for more than a month following their late February arrest, alongside Binance executive Nadeem Anjarwalla. The pair were taken into custody after the government launched an investigation into Binance for allegedly engaging in money laundering, tax evasion, and manipulating foreign exchange rates.
It appears that claims of Binance enabling users to manipulate forex prices have quieted down, but Nigerian authorities pressed on with other accusations. During this time, Anjarwalla avoided being taken into custody and instead left the country.
According to crypto.news, a request for the arrest of a Binance employee had been made internationally, which Interpol got involved in. Binance stated their commitment to working with local law enforcement and subsequently stopped providing naira services, including its P2P trading platform.
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2024-04-08 18:24