The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) case against the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, continues to drag on. A judge has denied the second bail application for the exchange’s executive, who has been detained in the country since February.
According to a report from local media Nairametrics, Justice Emeka Nwite denied Binance’s head of financial crime compliance Tigran Gambaryan’s second bail application on Friday at a Federal High Court in Abuja because an appeal regarding the first bail application was still open.
Binance Exec Denied Bail Again
Gambaryan has been in the custody of Nigerian authorities since February but was moved to the notorious Kuje prison after his fellow executive Binance’s former regional manager of Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla, escaped while the duo were praying in a mosque.
The Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged Gambaryan with money laundering and accused him of helping his employer, Binance, to hide over $35.4 million in revenue obtained from illegal activities, including forex dealings in the country.
Although the Binance executive pleaded not guilty to the charges, his lawyer, Mark Mordi, has had a hard time getting him released on bail despite citing harsh prison conditions and his deteriorating health. Mordi argued that his client had experienced pneumonia, malaria, tonsillitis, and a herniated disc, which has placed him in need of surgery and adequate medical attention.
No New Facts on Gambaryan’s Medical Issues
During the last bail hearing on Gambaryan’s first bail application, the EFCC’s legal counsel countered health claims made by the Binance executive’s legal team, citing a medical report from a clinic in Abuja that asserted the defendant was refusing prescribed medications and food. The agency’s lawyers also argued against claims that Gambaryan could no longer walk due to the herniated disc issue and needed surgery abroad, insisting that medical experts in Nigeria could handle the illness.
Apparently, Judge Nwite denied the first bail application, and Mordi appealed the ruling. While the appeal is in process, Gambaryan’s lawyer filed a second application seeking his client’s release on liberal terms or even a six-week bail on the basis of ill health.
However, the judge called the current application an abuse of court process due to the pending appeal for the first ruling. Nwite insisted that there are no new facts regarding medical care in the new application because the EFCC has established that Nigerian hospitals can treat the Binance executive.