High Court Denies American Binance Executive, Gambaryan Bail

A Federal High Court in Abuja, on Friday, denied the bail application of a Binance executive, Tigran Gambaryan, in a money laundering trial.

 

Justice Emeka Nwite refused to grant the bail application, saying he had resolved that the defendant would jump bail if granted.

Consequently, he held that the application “is hereby refused on that ground.”

 

Gambaryan, his company, Binance Holdings Limited and a fellow top executive currently on the run, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, with money laundering and terrorism financing.

 

The anti-corruption agency arraigned him on Monday, April 8, on five counts bordering on alleged tax evasion, currency speculation and money laundering to the tune of $34,400,000 (Thirty-Four Million, Four Hundred Thousand United States Dollars).

 

Gambaryan, the second defendant, had claimed that he was not an agent, director, or representative of the Binance Company in Nigeria and should not be served on behalf of the first defendant.

 

But on Tuesday, April 9, the trial judge, Justice Nwite held that the second defendant, in his earlier affidavit, had stated that he was an American who visited Nigeria along with Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan citizen, solely for the purpose of attending a meeting with government officials as representatives of Binance.

 

He also mentioned in the document that he joined Binance in September 2021, which clearly shows his involvement with the first defendant within the jurisdiction, thereby striking out the objection to stop his arraignment.

 

“Count one of the charges reads: That you BINANCE HOLDINGS LTD (“A.K.A BINANCE”), TIGRAN GAMBARYAN AND NADEEM ANJARWALLA (now at large) between January, 2023 and January 2024 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court carried on specialized business of other financial institution without valid licence and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 57(1) and (2) of the Banks and other Financial Institutions Act, 2020 and punishable under section 57(5) of the same Act.”

 

SaharaReporters reported on May 1, 2024, that Yuki Gambaryan, the wife of Gambaryan, had raised the alarm that the Nigerian government kept her husband in the Kuje prison together with Boko Haram terrorists and bandits.

 

Yuki told the United States Parliament that her husband had spent 65 days in custody in Nigeria.

 

The Binance executive’s wife, who was represented by her congressman, Rich McCormick, stated this at the House Foreign Affairs Committee roundtable on Americans detained abroad.

 

Gambaryan and his colleague, Anjarwalla, were arrested and detained on February 26 following an investigation into Binance’s activities in Nigeria.