Jonathan Nwokpor
Tigran Gambaryan, the imprisoned Binance executive, filed a bail plea, which was denied on Friday by an Abuja Federal High Court.
According to the affidavit evidence presented to Justice Emeka Nwite, Gambaryan would breach bail if the application is approved.
“I have carefully considered the affidavit evidence before me, and I am of the view that the applicant will jump bail if granted bail,” Justice Nwite declared.
On the other hand, the judge would expedite the trial’s hearing.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Justice Nwite scheduled the decision for Friday, April 23, following the adoption of procedures by the EFCC’s attorney, Ekele Iheanacho, and Gambaryan’s attorney, Mark Mordi, SAN, who presented their cases in favour of and against the bail plea.
Judge Nwite had ruled that Gambaryan should be kept under arrest at Kuje Correctional Centre following his plea of not guilty to the EFCC’s money laundering accusations.
The EFCC had charged Binance Holdings Limited, Gambaryan, and another company representative, Nadeem Anjarwalla, with conspiring to hide the source of $35,400 000 in cash profits from their purported illegal activities in Nigeria.
They were charged with violating Section 21(a) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, as well as other penalties under Section 18(3) of the same act.
On March 22, Anjarwalla broke free from official detention and left Nigeria for Kenya.
On behalf of Gambaryan, Mordi had submitted a request for a court order that would release his client on bond while the substantive case was heard and decided.
At the most recent postponed date, Mordi contended that the EFCC had not shown reliable evidence to refute his motion.
He said it was untrue that the complainant claimed Gambaryan was planning an escape from detention like his colleague’s.
“There is no exhibit or document displaying EFCC’s credible intelligence.
That was not how the EFCC attorney felt, though.
Iheanacho contended that the Binance agent had no ties to any Nigerian community and no suitable individual to act as a surety, so the court would be taking a significant risk by granting him bail.
He argued that while in jail, Gambaryan tried to apply for a new US passport while being fully aware that the Nigerian government had confiscated his international passport.
According to the attorney, he posed a flight risk and would jump bail, much like his colleague, if released on bond.
He disagreed with Mordi that the commission hadn’t shown any solid proof that Gambaryan had escape plans.
He claimed that the deponent was a member of the investigation team that looked into the case based on the deposition in their counter-affidavit.
He begged the judge to reject the bail request.
Alternatively, he recommended that if the judge granted the application bail, the applicant should be returned to EFCC custody.
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