Nigerian judge denies arrested Binance executive bail despite illness

Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) case against the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, continues to drag on. A judge has denied a second bail application for the stock exchange executive, who has been detained in the country since February.

According to a report by local media Nairametrics, Justice Emeka Nwite on Friday denied the second bail application of Binance financial crime boss Tigran Gambaryan at a Federal High Court in Abuja because an appeal was still pending on the first bail application.

Binance executive again denied bail

Gambaryan has been in the custody of Nigerian authorities since February, but was transferred to the notorious Kuje prison after fellow Binance executive Nadeem Anjarwalla’s former Africa regional manager escaped while the duo were praying in a mosque

Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged Gambaryan with money laundering and accused him of helping his employer, Binance, hide more than $35.4 million in proceeds from illegal activities , including foreign exchange operations in the country.

Although the Binance executive pleaded not guilty to the charges, his lawyer, Mark Mordi, has struggled to get him released on bail, citing harsh prison conditions and his failing health. Mordi argued that his client had suffered from pneumonia, malaria, tonsillitis and a herniated disc, which required surgery and proper medical attention.

There are no new facts about Gambaryan’s medical problems

During the latest bail hearing on Gambaryan’s first bail application, the EFCC’s legal counsel countered the health claims made by the Binance executive’s legal team, citing a medical report from ‘a clinic in Abuja which claimed that the accused was refusing prescribed medicines and food. The agency’s lawyers also argued against claims that Gambaryan could no longer walk due to a herniated disc problem and needed surgery abroad, insisting that medical experts in Nigeria could handle the condition.

Judge Nwite apparently denied the first bail application and Mordi appealed the ruling. While the appeal is pending, Gambaryan’s lawyer submitted a second application seeking his client’s release on liberal terms or even a six-week bail on health grounds.

However, the judge qualified the current request as an abuse of court process due to the pending appeal of the first sentence. Nwite insisted that there are no new facts about medical care in the new application because the EFCC has established that Nigerian hospitals can treat the Binance executive.

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