Binance executive jailed in Nigeria to know bail outcome next month

Binance's Tigran Gambaryan at a court hearing in Nigeria in April   -  
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Olamikan Gbemiga/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved

Binance executive, Tigran Gambaryan, will have to wait until 9 October to find out whether he will be released on bail or remain in custody.

The US citizen has been detained since February in a dispute between what is the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange and the Nigerian government.

Gambaryan, who is the exchange’s head of financial compliance, is on trial for money laundering, while Binance separately faces tax evasion charges.

He denies any wrongdoing.

In this latest bail application, his lawyer argued that his client needs to undergo surgery outside prison and that his health is deteriorating.

But on Wednesday, the Federal High Court judge in Abuja sent him back to prison.

Binance stopped all transactions and trading in naira in March after a countrywide crackdown on crypto exchanges that authorities blame for feeding a black market for foreign exchange.

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