A FEDERAL High Court in Abuja has sent a Binance executive, Tigran Gambaryan, to Kuje Correctional Centre pending the determination of his bail application.
The trial judge, Emeka Nwite, gave the order after he pleaded not guilty to the money laundering charges preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday, April 8.
The EFCC had charged Binance, Gambaryan, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, who was on the run, with hiding the source of the $35,400,000 in revenue that Binance made in Nigeria while knowing that the money was the product of illegal activities.
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Due to a protest from Tigran Gambaryan’s attorney, Mark Mordi (SAN), Binance Holdings Limited and Gambaryan’s arraignment were put on hold on April 4.
Mordi had argued that his client could not be charged after the EFCC could not serve Binance Holdings Limited.
According to EFCC lawyer E.E. Iheanacho, the second defendant was a national representative of Binance.
Ruling on the matter, Nwite said the service on Gambaryan on behalf of the company was proper.
Nwite held that Section 478 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act stipulates that service must be effected on a chief agent of a company within the jurisdiction.
The judge added that all the prosecution needed to do was establish that the person being served was Binance agent.
Furthermore, in an affidavit submitted by Gambaryan’s attorney, he stated that Anjarwalla and his client went to Nigeria to represent Binance at a meeting with Nigerian government representatives.
The allegations were then read to Gambaryan, who entered a not-guilty plea on Binance’s behalf.
The prosecution’s lawyer requested a date for the start of the trial.
However, Gambaryan’s attorney, Mordi, pleaded with the judge to approve his client’s request for bail.
He urged the court to keep his client in the EFCC custody, but the court ruled that he should be kept at the Kuje Correctional Centre.
According to the court, Gambaryan will remain in Kuje prison until the court reconvenes to determine whether or not he should be released on bail and possibly provide a list of conditions for the bail if granted.
The judge subsequently adjourned the matter till April 18 for the ruling on Gambaryan’s bail application and May 2 for commencement of trial.
On Thursday, April 4, the Federal High Court (FHC), Abuja, adjourned a tax evasion case involving Binance Holdings Limited and two of its officials, Gambaryan and Anjarwalla, who is now at large.
The Federal Government, through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), had dragged the firm and its executives to court over allegations of tax evasion.
They were arraigned before Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
One of the defendants, Gambaryan, showed up at the court while his colleague, Anjarwalla, was not present because he was on the run.
The ICIR reported on March 25 that the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) confirmed Anjarwalla’s escape from custody.
Anjarwalla allegedly escaped after being brought by the on-duty guards to a nearby mosque for prayers in observance of the current Ramadan fast.
The ICIR reported on Monday, March 25, that the Federal Government, through the FIRS, filed criminal charges against Binance at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The charges accused Binance of a four-count tax evasion.
FIRS stated that the action was intended to protect Nigeria’s economic integrity and maintain budgetary sustainability.
Binance pulled its services out of Nigeria on March 5 in response to the severe actions taken against it by the Nigerian government.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance