High Court adjourns $35m money laundering trial of Binance executives to May 13

A Federal High Court in Abuja adjourned the money laundering trial of Binance and two of its executives to May 13.

Binance, Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen and head of financial crime and Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British Kenyan, are facing trial for laundering over $35 million. The suit was filed by Nigeria's anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and was supposed to resume Thursday, May 2, 2024.

Anjarwalla recently escaped Nigerian authorities and fled to Kenya.

On Friday, the court also adjourned a tax evasion trial against cryptocurrency exchange Binance and the two executives to May 17 after the exchange had not been formally served with the charges.

It was reported that the Binance executive, Gambaryan did not enter a plea for the tax evasion charges filed against him by FIRS.

Gambaryan’s lawyer, Chukwuka Ikuazom objected, stating that he could not take a plea until Binance, the first defendant in the case, had been served, asper Nigerian law.

Judge Emeka Nwite adjourned the case to May 17 for a ruling.

Binance, Gambaryan and Anjarwalla face four counts of tax evasion including failure to register with Nigeria's Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) for tax purposes.

Binance, which was not represented in court and had no immediate comment, said it was working closely with Nigerian authorities following the detention of Gambaryan.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, last Tuesday, urged Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court Abuja to deny the bail application of Gambaryan.

The anti-graft agency said it was too risky to admit the foreigner to bail, noting the escape of his co-defendant, Anjarwalla, from the custody of the National Security Adviser and his escape to Kenya.

Meanwhile, Yuki, Gambaryan’s wife, last week, 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, said this at last Tuesday’s House Foreign Affairs Committee roundtable on Americans detained abroad.

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