A Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday refused to grant bail to Tigran Gambaryan, an executive of Binance Holdings Limited.
Justice Emeka Nwite said he was not convinced that the defendant, who is facing a five-count money laundering and terrorism financing charge alongside the company, would be available to face his trial once he is released on bail.
Justice Nwite held that based on affidavit evidence that was adduced by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), there is the likelihood that the defendant may jump bail.
Consequently, he dismissed the defendant’s application to be granted bail, pending the determination of the case against him.
The court ordered accelerated hearing of the matter.
The EFCC had on April 23 urged the court to allow the Binance official to remain in Kuje correctional facility.
The anti-graft agency maintained that it got a reliable intelligence that plans were afoot for the defendant to escape from custody and flee the country like his colleague.
It told the court that the defendant had attempted to secure a brand new international passport from the embassy of the United States of America.
EFCC further alleged that the defendant is an Armenian citizen by birth, saying there was a clear danger that he would jump bail if released from custody.
The defendant had in an application he filed on April 4 through his team lawyers led by Mark Mordi, relied on provisions of sections 157 and 162 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, to plead for bail.
He contended that the charge the EFCC preferred against him contained bailable offences, insisting that under the Constitution of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, he is presumed innocent of the allegations against him.
“My client is anxious and very desirous to prove his Innocence. This whole thing is that they want to use the defendant as a leavrage to obtain information from his employer. That is basically what this case is all about.
“This is purely a state sanctioned hostage taking,” the defence counsel said.
Gambaryan is answering to a five-count charge alongside his employer, Binance Holdings Limited.
The Federal Government had arrested and detained him and his colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, over alleged involvement of their firm in money laundering and terrorism financing.
But Anjarwalla escaped from custody.
