Tigran Gambaryan, an executive of Binance Holdings Limited, has pleaded not guilty to the charges of money laundering brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Gambaryan was formally arraigned before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday.
Alongside the company, Gambaryan faced a five-count charge presented before Justice Nwite.
The Nigerian authorities had detained Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, Binance’s regional manager for Africa, on February 28th.
Despite Anjarwalla’s escape from the custody of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), both executives, along with Binance, faced charges from the federal government for tax evasion.
Gambaryan and Binance are the sole defendants in the money laundering charge.
During the previous adjournment, Mark Mordi, counsel to Gambaryan, opposed the scheduled arraignment, arguing that it could not proceed because the first defendant (Binance) had not been served with the court processes.
In his response, E.E. Iheanacho, representing the EFCC, stated that the prosecution attempted to serve the processes on the first defendant through the second defendant, but Gambaryan refused to accept service.
Mordi responded that his client lacked the authority to represent Binance without formal authorisation.
Ruling
Issuing a ruling on the arguments presented on Monday, the judge affirmed that Binance had acknowledged in their affidavit that Gambaryan had previously represented the company in meetings and training held in Nigeria.
Justice Nwite dismissed the defendant’s argument that there was no official letter appointing Gambaryan as the company’s representative.
He ruled that serving the charge on the second defendant on behalf of Binance constituted proper service.
Subsequently, the court official read out the charges to the defendants and Gambaryan pleaded not guilty to the charges, a plea of not guilty was also entered for the company.
The judge also ordered that the defendant remain in Kuje prison pending the hearing of the bail application scheduled for April 18.
The matter has been adjourned to May 2 for the commencement of the trial.