The head prosecutor, Ekele Iheanacho, raised concerns about Gambaryan’s apparent effort to secure a new passport, citing the theft of his old one as the reason for his refusal to bail.
A Nigerian court allegedly refused bail to Tigran Gambaryan, a Binance executive who has been arrested in the country since February, in connection with a money laundering prosecution.
A local media outlet said that Judge Emeka Nwite rejected the bail request, citing the fact that Gambaryan was considered a flight risk who, if granted free, would probably go away.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed accusations against Gambaryan, Binance Holdings, and another high-ranking official, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who is presently evading capture. The allegations stem from alleged money laundering and terrorist funding.
The bail application was met with significant opposition from the prosecution, headed by Ekele Iheanacho. It was brought to light that Gambaryan had lately sought, under dubious circumstances, a replacement passport, having claimed that his old one had been stolen.
In addition, according to Iheanacho, Gambaryan is not particularly well-connected in any Nigerian community. Like his colleague Anjarwalla, who fled from Nigerian detention on March 22, Iheanacho said that he would flee if released on bond.
Their arrival in Nigeria on February 26th led to the arrest of Anjarwalla and Gambaryan. The seizure followed a governmental push to limit currency speculation that included the banning of cryptocurrency channels. A Nigerian court ordered Binance to provide over user information and transaction records to the country’s authorities.
Nonetheless, Gambaryan went ahead and sued the Nigerian government, claiming that they had infringed upon his basic human rights. In his motion, Gambaryan argues that the seizure of his passport and incarceration in Nigeria run counter to the protection of personal liberty in the country’s constitution.
While he remains in detention at the Kuje correctional centre, Gambaryan’s bail application hearing was earlier postponed by the Federal High Court in Abuja, Nigeria.
The first delay of Gambaryan’s court appearance was scheduled for April 19, and the bail issue was to be resolved on April 22. The EFCC has charged him with tax evasion and money laundering, but he has entered a not-guilty plea.
Binance announced its withdrawal from the Nigerian naira market and the end of all transactions using the currency on March 5. Additionally, Binance said that at the end of February, all naira trading pairs were delisted from its peer-to-peer trading platform.
Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao received a four-month jail term for breaking U.S. money laundering regulations in a separate case in the US.
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