A Federal High Court in Abuja has summoned the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Olayemi Cardoso and head of the apex bank’s legal services department to appear before it with specific documents on Monday, September 2.
They are to make appearances in the money laundering case brought against Binance Holdings Limited and its executives.
Binance USA’s head of financial crime compliance, Tigan Gambaryan, and the company’s British-Kenyan regional manager for Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla, are facing money laundering charges to the tune of $35m brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Gambaryan is currently being held in Kuje correctional facility after Anjarwalla fled.
In the document titled Subpoena Duces Tecum, Justice Emeka Nwite asked the apex bank’s heads to appear before it or delegate someone to do so, reports PUNCH.
It read, “The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria Plot 33, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Way, Central Business District, Abuja – FCT.
“You or any other officer you may delegate are commanded in the name of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to attend before the Federal High Court, Abuja Judicial Division, presided over by the Honourable Justice E. Nwite, on the 2nd day of September 2024 at 9 o’clock in the forenoon, and from day to day until the above cause is tried, to bring with you and produce at the time and place mentioned the following documents.
“Certified True Copy of the excel spreadsheet captioned ‘Export Exchange Rate Results’ published on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s website for the period from 1 June 2024 to 16 August 2024.”
In a separate document but with similar wording, the court summons, “The Head, Legal Services Department, Central Bank of Nigeria, Plot 33, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Way, Central Business District, Abuja – FCT.
“You or any other officer you may delegate are commanded in the name of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to attend before the Federal High Court, Abuja Judicial Division, presided over by the Honourable Justice E. Nwite, on the 2nd day of September 2024 at the hour of 9 o’clock in the forenoon, and from day to day until the above cause is tried, to bring with you and produce at the time and place mentioned the following documents.”
