Nigerian judge adjourns Binance money laundering trial to October

ABUJA, July 16 (Reuters) – A Nigerian court on Tuesday
adjourned a money laundering trial against cryptocurrency
exchange Binance and two of its executives to Oct. 11 because a
court-ordered medical report for one of the defendants was not
submitted as evidence.

Binance and executives Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen and
head of financial crimes compliance, and British-Kenyan national
Nadeem Anjarwalla, a regional manager for Africa, have been
charged with laundering more than $35 million and engaging in
specialized financial activities without a license.

The exchange also faces a separate four counts of tax
evasion. They have all pleaded not guilty to the all the
charges.

Gambaryan appeared in court in a wheelchair on Tuesday. His
case has been stalled since May because he was not well enough
to stand trial. Binance has previously said Gambaryan had
malaria and pneumonia.

Trial Judge Emeka Nwite expressed frustration with an
ongoing dispute over Gambaryan’s medical records. The court had
previously ordered the documents released from the hospital
where he was treated, but the facility’s director has not
complied.

Judge Nwite issued a bench warrant for the arrest of the
hospital’s medical director, demanding their presence at the
next hearing. He also ordered Gambaryan to be admitted to the
hospital for 24 hours “for emphasis” and proper treatment.

Last month, two U.S. lawmakers urged the United States
embassy in Nigeria to seek the release of Gambaryan, who has
been in detention since February, on humanitarian grounds due to
his poor health.

Binance had no immediate comment but it is contesting the
charges.

Nigeria blamed Binance for its currency woes after
cryptocurrency websites became the platforms of choice for
trading the Nigerian naira as the country grappled with chronic
dollar shortages and the currency fell to a record low.

(Reporting by Camillus Eboh; Writing by Elisha Bala-Gbogbo;
Editing by Chris Reese)