A federal high court in Abuja has refused to grant bail to Tigran Gambaryan, an executive of Binance Holdings Limited, a cryptocurrency firm.
Justice Emeka Nwite held that Gambaryan is likely to jump bail if granted bail.
The company and its executive were arraigned on a five-count charge bordering on money laundering by the economic and financial crimes commission, EFCC and the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge.
An application moved by defence counsel, Mark Mordi, argued that the court had the power to grant bail to the defendant and impose conditions to ensure his presence in court.
This was opposed by the prosecutor, Ekele Iheanacho stating that the defendant was a flight risk as the defendant attempted to obtain a new passport, which he claimed was stolen.
The lawyer also held that the court cannot risk granting Gambaryan bail, especially since he is not attached to any community in Nigeria and the fact that the passport of the defendant is with the complainant does not guarantee that he will remain in Nigeria.
Ruling on the application, the judge said several factors including the nature of offence and its severity must be considered before granting bail and there is every likelihood that the defendant will jump bail if granted.
Justice Nwite however ordered an accelerated hearing.
After the ruling, the EFCC called its first witness, a staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Testifying as the first prosecution witness, Abdulkadir Abbas, a director of exchanges and market infrastructure, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said he got to know the 2nd defendant, Gambaryan, in March 2020 at a meeting in the office of the National Security Adviser to discuss the operations of the 1st defendant (Binance) as it affects the financial market.
In his testimony, he said Binance is not registered or regulated by SEC. He added that the company is in breach of the extant provision of the Investments and Security Act.
After listening to the witness, the court adjourned to 23rd of June.
(Editor: Ebuwa Omo-Osagie)
