Jailed Binance Exec’s Bail Hearing in Nigeria Postponed Until May 17

Detained
Binance
executive
Tigran
Gambaryan
will
remain
in
prison
in
Nigeria
until
at
least
May
17,
following
an
Abuja
court’s
ruling
to
postpone
a
scheduled
bail
hearing
until
after
he
is
tried
on
money
laundering
charges.

Gambaryan,
an
American
citizen
and
former
Internal
Revenue
Service
(IRS)
special
agent,
is
Binance’s
head
of
financial
crime
compliance.
He
and
a
colleague,
Binance’s
regional
manager
for
Africa
Nadeem
Anjarwalla,
a
dual
U.K.-Kenyan
national,
were
arrested
and
detained
on
Feb.
26
after
flying
to
Nigeria’s
capital
city
of
Abuja
to
meet
with
the
Nigerian
government
at
the
government’s
request.

The
Nigerian
government
had
previously
accused
Binance
of
enabling
currency
speculation
that
crashed
its
currency,
the
naira.
At
first,
Nigerian
officials
denied
that
Gambaryan
and
Anjarwalla
were
under
arrest,
but
the
pair
were
put
under
house
arrest
upon
arrival
and,
along
with
Binance,
charged
with
money
laundering
and
tax
evasion
a
month
later.

Gambaryan
was
moved
to
the
notorious
Kuje
prison
–
which
also
houses
suspected
members
of
the
Boko
Haram
terrorist
group
–
after
Anjarwalla
escaped
and
fled
the
country
under
mysterious
circumstances.
In
a

cell
phone
video
filmed
after
Anjarwalla’s
escape
on
March
23,
a
distressed
Gambaryan
said
he
had
no
knowledge
of
his
colleague’s
escape
plans
and
asked
the
U.S.
government
for
help.

The
government’s
response
to
Gambaryan’s
imprisonment
has
been
tepid.
According
to
his
family,
Gambaryan
has
received
only
one
visit
from
the
U.S.
embassy
staff
since
being
moved
to
Kuje
prison
and
has
limited
access
to
his
legal
team.

“There
is
no
justice
in
what
is
being
done
to
my
husband.
I
am
in
a
constant
state
of
grief
and
anxiety,
not
knowing
what
other
injustice
he
is
going
to
be
put
through,”
Gambaryan’s
wife
Yuki
Gambaryan
said
in
a
statement.
“It
is
outrageous
that
Tigran,
an
innocent
man,
continues
to
be
kept
in
a
prison
cell
and
the
ruling
on
his
bail
will
not
be
made
until
after
the
trial
starts…This
is
just
pure
cruelty.”

Both
Gambaryan
and
Anjarwalla
have

filed
suit
against
Nigeria’s
National
Security
Advisor,
Nuhu
Ribadu,
and
the
Economic
Financial
Crimes
Commission
for
violating
their
human
rights.

Gambaryan
has
pleaded
“not
guilty”
to
all
of
the
charges
against
him,
which
his
family
has
called
“bogus.”

The
money
laundering
trial
against
Gambaryan
and
Binance
will
begin
on
May
2.
The
tax
evasion
charges
will
be
tried
separately
beginning
on
May
17.

According
to
Gambaryan’s
family,
he
will
spend
his
40th
birthday
in
prison.