Nigeria Court Hearing On Binance Money Laundering Case Preponed To September

Nigeria Court Hearing On Binance Money Laundering Case Preponed To September

The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange has also been accused of tax evasion

A court in Nigeria will hear the money laundering case against crypto exchange Binance and its two executives on 02 September, instead of 11 October, as planned earlier. The date was changed at the request of the defense lawyers.

The global company and its executives, Tigan Gambaryan, a US citizen and head of financial crimes compliance, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan regional manager for Africa, have been charged with laundering more than $35 million.

While all had denied the charges, Anjarwalla escaped from detention and left Nigeria before the trial began. Gambaryan was detained in the country in February.

According to his wife Yuki Gambaryan, his health has deteriorated in prison.

She appealed to the Nigerian government to drop the charges against her husband and release him on health grounds. She also requested the US government to help in releasing him.

Nigeria has blamed Binance for its currency weakness after cryptocurrency websites became the platforms for trading the Nigerian Naira (currency) and the country grappled with chronic dollar shortages. Its currency fell to a record low.

In March, Binance stated it would stop all transactions and trading in Naira after a country-wide crackdown on crypto exchanges. The authorities blamed these for feeding the black market for foreign exchanges.