Gambaryan’s “Liberty Is at Stake”: Lawyers Slam Witness Behavior

• Binance and Gambaryan’s lawyers cross-examined a prosecution witness.
• The witness refrained from directly answering questions on several occasions.
• Gambaryan’s health continues to deteriorate.

For over 141 days, Binance Chief Financial Crime Compliance Officer Tigran Gambaryan has been held in Nigeria for alleged crimes committed by the exchange in the country despite having no influence over the firm’s operations.

While the Binance executive has been able to shake charges tied to tax evasion , money laundering charges continue to linger, setting the stage for an intense and controversial legal battle. In the most recent hearing, the defense again took the fight to the prosecution.

Binance and Gambaryan’s Lawyers Bash Witness for Evasive Tactics 

The money laundering case brought against Binance and Tigran Gambryan by Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), continues to drag on with witness testimony.

The most recent hearing in the case on Tuesday, July 16, observed by my colleague, DailyCoin reporter Grace Abidemi , saw the cross-examination of Olubukola Akinwunmi, head of payments policy and regulation at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), called by the prosecution to speak on the nature of Binance’s operations in Nigeria and claims that these operations interfered with naira price discovery.

During cross-examination on Tuesday, Binance’s lawyer, Babatunde Fagbohunlu, slammed the CBN official for being evasive.

“A person’s liberty is at stake!” an exasperated Fagbohunlu had to stress at one point.

The frustration came as CBN’s Akinwunmi seemed to recite the same vague answer when asked about the apex bank’s stance on the licensing of a local securities exchange, FMDQ, and casinos:

“An entity that carries out an activity under the regulatory provisions of the CBN must obtain a license.”

The witness would repeat this rhetoric when asked whether metering management companies and game arcades also required CBN licenses.

“He [CBN’s Akinwunmi] is perfectly skilled in the game of evasion,” Fagbohunlu declared, giving up the line of questioning.

Beyond questioning the CBN’s stance on whether these businesses required licensing, Fagbohunlu also asked the witness whether the CBN only regulated business activity involving legal tender and whether the bank considered crypto legal tender. Again, CBN’s Akinwunmi refrained from giving a straightforward answer. 

“By the law, you can regulate the banking business or the business of any financial institution, whether physical or virtually,” he droned, adding, “The law outlines legal tender in Nigeria as the naira.”

With these questions, the lawyer aimed to point out that accusing Binance of operating an illegal business for failing to obtain CBN licenses, a claim the witness had made in sworn testimony, presented a double standard if local trading houses, casinos, and arcade gaming houses were not required to do so. 

An Unregistered Business?

During sworn testimony on July 5, CBN’s Akinwunmi told the court that Binance offered unauthorized banking and currency exchange services to Nigerians via its platform.

“They [Binance] facilitated exchange between one fiat currency to the other, e.g., converting from naira to USD. That type of service requires authorization by the CBN, either as an authorized dealer or as a BDC [Bureau de Change],” he stressed at the time.

Beyond these claims, the CBN official had also tried to establish that the firm had actively solicited Nigerian customers through its website and physical events.

While the money laundering case continues with witness testimony, Binance’s Tigran Gambryan’s health continues to raise concerns. As has now become a ritual in the case, the court rounded up proceedings on Tuesday, July 16, by again addressing these health concerns that have become a major talking point in the case since the Binance executive slumped during proceedings on May 23.

Gambaryan’s Health Continues To Deteriorate

On Tuesday, July 16, there was yet another noticeable change for the worse in Gambaryan’s appearance in court. Instead of walking in, Gambaryan was brought in a wheelchair, suggesting that the Binance executive grows weaker.

Explaining Gambaryan’s wheelchair use, his lawyer, Mark Modi, told the court that the Binance executive was in severe pain and had developed a dilated disk, requiring an MRI from sleeping on the thin mattress provided in the prison cell.

The latest development comes as officials continue to withhold Gambaryan’s medical reports despite multiple court orders to release them. During the last hearing on July 5, the judge demanded that officials provide the prison doctor should they again fail to provide the results of the Binance executive’s medical tests today. During today’s trial, however, neither the medical test results nor the doctor were provided. 

Amid the continued disregard for the court’s directives, Gambaryan’s lawyer, Mark Modi, urged the court to remand the Binance executive at a hospital instead of returning him to Kuje Prison, asserting that his client was “in a clearly precarious state of health.”

“We need to be careful that the life in our hands is not injured any further,” the lawyer submitted.

In response to this request, Justice Emeka Nwite issued a bench warrant to the personnel in charge of the medical report to explain why it had not been provided. At the same time, he permitted the transfer of Gambaryan to a hospital for 24 hours for extensive medical checks under the supervision of security personnel.

The judge also adjourned proceedings for three months till October 11 and October 17, confirming fears from concerned U.S. lawmakers that the Binance executive’s case would be unduly delayed due to the planned long break for Nigerian Federal High Court judges from July 23 to September 13.

On the Flipside 

• Binance is now the sole defendant in the tax evasion case following the company’s appointment of an agent in the country.
• At the current pace, the end of the Tigran Gambaryan case still looks far away.

Why This Matters 

At the time of writing, Gambaryan has been in Nigerian detention for 141 days, or nearly five months, on what many, including his attorneys, have decried as bogus charges. His deteriorating health remains a cause for concern as this months-long detention continues to drag on.

Read this to catch up on the Tigran Gambaryan detention saga:
Tigran Gambaryan Is Still Detained After 100+ Days: What’s Going On?

Ether ETF launch date confirmed? Find out more:
Ether ETF Release Primed for July 23: Here’s What We Know