UPDATED: Nigerian govt drops money laundering charges against Binance executive Gambaryan

Meanwhile, the judge sustained the money laundering charges against Binance, a cryptocurrency firm, which now stands as the sole defendant in the case.

The Nigerian government has dropped all charges against Tigran Gambaryan, an executive at Binance Holdings, who has been on trial for money laundering and currency speculations at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The trial judge, Emeka Nwite, ordered Mr Gambaryan, a US citizen, to be immediately released from Kuje prison in Abuja, following a request by the prosecution during Wednesday morning’s proceedings.

The development, coming two days ahead of the previously scheduled hearing set for 25 October, which had been announced in open court last Friday, appears to be planned to avoid attracting widespread attention.

Meanwhile, the judge sustained the money laundering charges against Binance, a cryptocurrency firm, which now stands as the sole defendant in the case. The firm is accused of money laundering and currency speculation involving as much as $34.4 million to the detriment of the Nigerian forex market and economy.

A lawyer, R.U. Adaba, representing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) – the prosecuting agency – applied on Wednesday morning to the court to stop the prosecution of Mr Gambaryan.

She cited diplomatic interventions and the extent of the defendant’s involvement in the alleged crimes as the key reasons for the decision.

“The government has reviewed the case and, taken into consideration that the second defendant (Mr Gambaryan) is an employee of the first defendant (Binance Holdings Limited), whose status in the matter has more impact than the second defendant’s, and also taking into consideration some critical international and diplomatic reasons, the state seeks to discontinue the case against the second defendant,” Ms Adaba said.

She also cited Mr Gambaryan’s worsening health in custody.

She noted that “the health of the defendant has been a recurrent issue which the state has managed well at the correctional centre facility through NSA (the National Security Adviser.”

But despite the Nigerian government’s best efforts at caring for him, Ms Adaba said “the second defendant can barely walk without a wheelchair or crutches and in addition with other ailments.”

“A surgery had been recommended,” she added, and the recovery process “may take some time that may impact on the pace of the trial.”

Mark Mordi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) representing Mr Gambaryan, agreed with the prosecution, saying that his client was not involved in the company’s broader financial decisions.

“We ask the court to expedite everything to ensure Mr Gambaryan leaves the facility of the correctional centre,” the senior lawyer said.

In addition to seeking his client’s discharge, Mr Mordi asked for full acquittal, citing Section 108 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) for the second defendant to be “discharged and acquitted.”

PREMIUM TIMES understands that Wednesday’s hearing Wednesday’s hearing marked the culmination of months of intense, behind-the-scenes diplomatic talks between Nigerian and US government officials, aimed at securing the release of Mr Gambaryan

In the weeks leading up to the hearing, some US lawmakers had campaigned for the release of Mr Gambaryan, writing to relevant Nigerian and American authorities to intervene.

The pressure on the Nigerian government intensified after the trial court twice denied the defendant’s bail requests.

‘Discharged not acquitted’

Despite agreeing to drop the charges on Wednesday, the EFCC opposed the plea for full acquittal.

Ms Adaba maintained that the case was still active and had yet to be heard on its merits.

She explained that a major reason for dropping the charges against Mr Gambaryan is his ill health, “it’s not on the ground of insufficient evidence.”

“The matter has not been heard on its merit, and we are still calling witnesses,” she said to support her argument that Mr Gambaryan should not be handed a full acquittal.

Ruling

In his ruling, the trial judge, Mr Nwite, agreed that Mr Gambaryan was merely an employee of Binance and not the principal figure in the case.

However, while the judge ordered Mr Gambaryan’s discharge, he stopped short of granting him full acquittal.

“I hereby make an order to the correctional centre to immediately release the second defendant,” Mr Nwite ruled.

He then adjourned the trial until 22 and 25 November to continue the trial of Binance. The development shows that the 25 October date has now been overtaken by Wednesday’s event.

Background

Mr Gambaryan has been held at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja since his arraignment in April.

He faced trial alongside Binance, a cryptocurrency company he served as its country representative, on five counts of money laundering and currency speculation involving as much as $34.4 million.

Binance is facing tax evasion charges in a separate case before another judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

In May, the court denied the Binance executive’s bail application, judging him a flight risk.

The court’s decision came about two months after Mr Gambaryan’s colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, reportedly escaped from a pre-trial custody in Abuja in March.

Since the court’s decision denying him bail, Mr Gambaryan’s health condition has been a recurring feature in the trial and the basis for the subsequent unsuccessful bail application.

On 11 October, the court dismissed Mr Gambaryan’s second bail application anchored on ill health.

The judge held that Mr Gambaryan failed to show in the bail application that the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) did not have adequate facilities or had failed to take care of his ill-health.

He also ruled that the bail application constituted an abuse of court process. Mr Gambaryan’s request could not be granted when he was still challenging the ruling on his earlier bail application at the Court of Appeal.

The judge, who stressed that the defendant failed to withdraw his pending appeal against the earlier ruling on his bail application before filling another motion, said such an act amounted to an abuse of court process.

“There is no gainsaying on this leg alone that this application is bound to fail,” he said.

The judge, however, ordered the NCoS to refer Mr Gambaryan to any standard hospital in Abuja for a period of two to three days.