Due to failure to turn in as evidence a medical report that was required for one of the defendants by the court, a Nigerian court on Tuesday, 16 July, adjourned the money laundering trial against cryptocurrency exchange Binance and two of its executives till October 11.
The two Executives at Binance, British-Kenyan Nadeem Anjarwalla, a regional manager for Africa, and U.S. citizen Tigran Gambaryan, head of financial crimes compliance have been accused of money laundering exceeding $35 million and engaging in specialized financial operations without a license.
Four other charges relating to tax evasion have also been brought against the exchange. A not guilty plea was entered for each of the charges.
On Tuesday, Gambaryan showed up in court in a wheelchair. He hadn’t been well enough to face trial, consequently his case had been on hold since May.
Gambaryan was earlier reported by Binance to have pneumonia and malaria.
The continued confusion over Gambaryan’s medical records left trial judge Emeka Nwite frustrated.
The director of the hospital where he was treated is yet to comply with the courts orders to provide the demanded medical records.
In order to ensure that the hospital’s medical director was present at the upcoming hearing, Judge Nwite issued a bench warrant for his arrest.
In addition, he ordered Gambaryan’s 24-hour hospital stay “for emphasis” and appropriate medical care.
Due to Gambaryan’s deteriorating health, two US legislators had recently requested the US embassy in Nigeria to push for Gambaryan’s release on humanitarian grounds.
Gambaryan has been in custody since February.
Nigeria held Binance responsible for its currency problems after the country’s naira dropped to a record low and cryptocurrency exchanges became the preferred means of trading the currency as the nation struggled with ongoing dollar shortages.
Binance has since denied the accusations.
