The Nigerian government, through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), will arraign Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, two top officials of Binance Holdings Ltd, on five counts of money laundering charges on Thursday.
Gambaryan and Anjarwalla, who escaped from lawful custody on March 22 and fled Nigeria, will be arraigned before Justice Emeka Nwite of a Federal High Court (FHC) in Abuja.
Although the crypto exchange firm, Gambaryan, and Anjarwalla are listed as 1st to 3rd defendants respectively, Anjarwalla, described as “at large” by the EFCC in the counts, is expected to be arraigned in absentia.
In the charge dated and filed on March 28 by the anti-graft agency, the trio is accused of money laundering amounting to $35,400,000.
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Count one accuses the defendants of carrying on specialized business of another financial institution without a valid license between January 2023 and January 2024 in Abuja.
The offense is said to be contrary to Section 57(1) and (2) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, 2020, and punishable under Section 57(5) of the same Act.
NAN had also reported on March 28 that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) would arraign Binance Holdings Limited, Gambaryan, and the fleeing Anjarwalla on allegations of tax evasion on April 4.
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In the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/115/2024, the three defendants will be arraigned before Justice Nwite on four counts.
Though the FHC’s Easter vacation, which began on March 22, will end on April 8, Chief Judge of FHC, Justice John Tsoho, directed the transfer of Binance’s case file to Justice Nwite, despite him not being a vacation judge.
The chief judge granted the fiat for the judge to handle the case during vacation as it concerns dire national interest.
The two cases were fixed for Thursday to allow for accelerated hearing.
