NewsOnline Nigeria reports that the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Monday, has remanded Tigran Gambaryan, a representative of Binance Ltd at the Nigerian Correctional Service pending the determination of his bail application.
The court also overruled the argument of Tigran Gambaryan who claimed he was not an agent of Binance Ltd.
Justice Emeka Nwite earlier, in the proceedings on Monday, ordered him to take his plea immediately, for himself and on behalf of Binance whom he represents in Nigeria, prior to the commencement of trial.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had planned to arraign Binance Ltd, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla before the Federal High Court, Abuja in its suit marked FHC/ABJ/CR/138/2024, last week.
But their planned arraignment last Thursday was stalled following a strong objection from Gambaryan’s legal team which insisted that he is not an agent of Binance.
They were scheduled by the court to take their plea in separate suits filed by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the EFC.
The EFCC accused the defendants of money laundering and foreign exchange contravention to the tune of $35,400, 000.
In the charge sheet seen by Nairametrics, the EFCC alleged they concealed the origin of a cumulative sum of $35,400, 000 generated as revenue by BINANCE in Nigeria knowing that the funds constituted proceeds of unlawful activity
Some of the counts read,
“That you, BINANCE HOLDINGS LTD (A.KA BINANCE”) between January, 2022 and January, 2024 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court not being an authorized dealer in Nigeria’s Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market used your virtual asset services platform to unlawfully negotiate foreign exchange rates in Nigeria and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 29(1) (C) of the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring And Miscellaneous Provisions) Act.
“That you BlNANCE HOLDINGS LTD (“A.K.A BINANCE”), TIGRAN GAMBARYAN, NADEEM ANJARWALLA (now at large) and other persons at large between January, 2023 and January, 2024 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court conspired amongst yourselves to conceal the origin of the proceeds of your unlawful activities and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 21 (a) and punishable under section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”
What transpired last week
When the court resumed last Thursday, Gambaryan’s lawyer, Mark Mordi SAN contended that his client cannot take his plea because refused to accept service on behalf of Binance as he is not authorised to do so.
According to him, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act mandates the antigraft agency to ensure that the company (Binance) would have been served, then the company would appoint a representative in writing and it is only then can service and processes can be served on Binance.
He added, “his client is not an executive of Binance and does not reside in Nigeria to qualify as an agent.
He explained,
“The first defendant(Binance) has no physical footprint in Nigeria and does not have an agent in the country.
“I urge my lord to discountenance the submission of the EFCC and adjourn so that they can effect service on Binance.
But EFCC counsel, Ekene Iheanacho maintained that though there is no physical presence of Binance in Nigeria, Gambaryan is the cryptocurrency platform’s agent in the country
“This defendant is the only agent of Binance in Nigeria and he qualifies to be an agent,” he added.
What the judge said today
In his ruling, Justice Emeka Nwite held on Monday that Section 478 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, states that a person effecting service shall effect same to a chief agent of a company within jurisdiction among others
He said all the prosecution needs to do is to establish that the person being served is an agent of Binance
The judge observed that Gambaryan’s lawyers had deposed in an affidavit along with Nadeem,that they “visited Nigeria for the purpose of attending a meeting with Nigerian government officials on behalf of Binance.”
Nwite ruled,
“Does the second defendant qualify as an agent of Binance?
“From the above statement, the second defendant is the duly appointed representative of Binance. The second defendant is bound to receive summons on behalf of Binance.
“The service of the second defendant on behalf of the first defendant is a proper service. The court should proceed with the arraignment of the defendants.”
Continuation of proceedings
After the judge’s ruling, the registrar of the court read out the five-count charges to Gambaryan who pleaded not guilty to all them, for himself and for Binance.
EFCC’s lawyer, Iheanacho then asked the court to fix a date for the trial of Binance and its executives.
But Gambaryan’s lawyer, Mordi rose up and asked the court to take his client’s bail application first, adding that in the alternative, his client should remain at the EFCC custody
However, Iheanacho told the judge that the proper place for the custody of the defendant is the Nigerian Correctional Service
After hearing the lawyers, the judge adjourned EFCC’s case to May 2, 2024 for trial and 18, April, 2024 for bail application.
More insight
Binance and its executives are faced with two separate suits by the FIRS and EFCC; the former bordering on tax evasion while the latter charged them for money laundering and foreign exchange contravention.
Nairametrics also recalls that the executives have also instituted a fundamental rights case against agenices of the Nigerian government, citing a violation of their constitutional right to liberty
On February 28, Nigerian authorities detained two senior Binance executives: Nadeem Anjarwalla, a 37-year-old British-Kenyan who serves as the regional manager for Africa, and Tigran Gambaryan, a 39-year-old American who is the head of financial crime compliance at Binance
Following the federal government’s ban on cryptocurrency channels as part of a campaign against currency speculation, the Binance executives visited Nigeria for a meeting
The Naira has experienced a significant devaluation of its currency, with the naira losing 70% of its value against the dollar since the foreign exchange reforms were implemented last year, a situation worsened by a shortage of dollars locally
The NSA later confirmed that Nadeem had fled the country.
