Binance Executive Renews Nigeria Bail Plea On Health Grounds

Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan, detained in Nigeria since February in a money-laundering and tax-evasion case, made a new bail appeal on Monday on medical grounds, with the country’s economic crimes agency opposing the request.

Binance, US citizen Gambaryan and British-Kenyan regional manager for Africa Nadeem Anjarwalla have been charged with profiting from money-laundering involving more than $35m.

World’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance has separately been accused of tax evasion in the country.

Gambaryan’s lawyer Mark Modi told the High Court in capital Abuja that he was filing a new appeal for bail because his client’s “health has continued to deteriorate while in prison custody”.

Bail appeal

An earlier appeal for bail was denied in May.

Gambaryan says he has a herniated disc and has suffered from malaria and pneumonia.

He appeared in court on crutches and said prison officials had denied him the use of a wheelchair.

A lawyer for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said Gambaryan was not in ill health and had had a herniated disc for more than a decade.

The judge ordered Gambaryan to be allowed to use a wheelchair and will continue to hear the case on Wednesday.

Gambaryan, a former special agent for the US Internal Revenue Service and Anjarwalla were detained after their arrival in Abuja on 26 February.

Anjarwalla escaped from custody on 22 March and is believed to have left Nigeria on a passport he did not hand over to authorities.

Currency slump

The two executives flew into the country to negotiate with government officials after the government blocked transactions to Binance and other cryptocurrency platforms.

In addition to Binance Nigeria barred transactions to Coinbase, Forextime, Kraken, OctaFX and other platforms in a move to block speculation on the country’s currency, the niara, whose value was slumping to record lows.

In March Anjarwalla asked guards at the guest house where he was being held to allow him to go to a mosque and never returned, local media reported.

Authorities had reportedly confiscated his British passport but the whereabouts of his Kenyan passport were unknown.