LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-In a surprising turn of events, the bail hearing of Binance Executive, Tigran Gambaryan, and Binance Holdings Limited was postponed on Thursday, April 18, 2024, due to a new application filed by the defence counsel, Mark Mordi, SAN.
According to a statement by the EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, the defence’s application, which was a further affidavit in response to the opposition presented by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the initial bail application, could not be heard as the EFCC’s counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, requested an adjournment to adequately respond to it.
Iheanacho stated, “My Lord, this is a criminal trial and we must ensure a fair trial. It would be unfair to disregard the importance of this issue. Although it is inconvenient for me to request this adjournment, it is necessary to do what is right. Therefore, we request a short adjournment until Monday or Tuesday to reconvene and submit our further counter affidavit.”
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Mordi, the defence counsel, did not oppose the prosecution’s adjournment request. However, he emphasized that the prosecution had claimed they had intelligence suggesting the defendant may attempt to flee due to dual nationality. Mordi urged the prosecution to present this claim in court so they could respond accordingly. “He can state it now, and we can continue. We can even give him two hours to do so, as the liberty of my client is at stake,” Mordi expressed.
After hearing both counsels, Justice Emeka Nwite adjourned the hearing until April 22, 2024, to consider the bail application.
Tigran Gambaryan, along with Binance Holdings Ltd and Nadeem Anjarwalla, who is currently at large, is facing trial by the EFCC on charges of money laundering, tax evasion, currency speculation, and related offenses, amounting to an alleged sum of $34,400,000.