Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the remand of a Binance executive, Tigran Gambaryan, in Kuje Correctional Centre pending the determination of his bail application.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday arraigned Gambaryan, the head of financial crime compliance at the cryptocurrency firm, over allegations of money laundering.
However, the defendant pleaded not guilty.
Recall that Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, Binance’s regional manager for Africa, were detained on the orders of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) on February 28.
Although Anjarwalla escaped from custody, this did not stop the EFCC from slamming charges of tax evasion against him, Gambaryan and Binance Holdings Limited.
Meanwhile, only Gambaryan and Binance are facing money laundering charges.
At Monday’s sitting, Justice Nwite adjourned the matter till April 18 for the ruling on Gambaryan’s bail application and May 2 for the commencement of trial.