A Nigerian court has rejected a bail application by Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan, which cited health concerns. The court instructed the prison to refer him to a hospital for treatment.
Judge Emeka Nwite of Nigeria’s Federal High Court in Abuja denied Gambaryan’s bail application on Oct. 11, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Tigran Gambaryan, the head of financial crime compliance at Binance. Source: BusinessDay.ng
Nwite reportedly ruled that the Binance executive should remain in prison despite his worsening health, as such a condition “does not entitle them [prisoners] to leave custody.”
The judge reportedly said that Gambaryan would be allowed to leave only if the “continuous stay of the detainee possesses a harm to others and quarantine isn’t available.”
Gambaryan’s family “not surprised” by the decision
Since his arrest in Nigeria in February, Gambaryan has remained in detention at Kuje prison in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, despite maintaining his innocence and making multiple claims about his worsening health condition.
In August, Gambaryan’s family said that he was unable to walk due to an untreated herniated disc or spinal injury. Still, the court has repeatedly ordered Gambaryan to stay in prison until the case is settled.
“I am not surprised by this decision,” Gambaryan’s wife, Yuki Gambaryan, reportedly said. She added that it’s “completely unjust to deny someone in Tigran’s condition the opportunity to seek appropriate medical help.”
Nigeria’s EFCC insisted that Gambaryan’s health challenge was “not as serious”
Gambaryan’s lawyer, Mark Mordi, repeatedly argued that Gambaryan’s health is “perilous,” requesting a six-week bail for his client to seek proper medical attention outside the prison.
Mordi reportedly stated that Gambaryan required surgery for a herniated disc and psychiatric care due to depression and anxiety.
Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which is prosecuting the Binance executive for alleged money laundering in his role at Binance, has repeatedly objected to the Gambaryan’s health claims.
Source: Punch Newspapers
In September, the EFCC’s senior prosecutor, Ekele Iheanacho, argued that the exec’s lawyers had exaggerated the severity of Gambaryan’s condition. He claimed that Gambaryan could receive treatment while being detained at Kuje Correctional Facility, asserting that his health concerns were “not as serious” as presented by lawyers.
Defense and family keep insisting that Nigeria neglected Gambaryan’s health
According to a report by Nairametrics, Nigeria’s State House Annex Clinic in September alleged that Gambaryan refused prescribed medications and food when attended to by a neurosurgeon in July.
In response to those claims, Gambaryan’s lawyer, Mordi, reportedly insisted that Gambaryan’s health challenges cannot be adequately managed in Nigeria.
“The Judge has ruled on different occasions that Tigran be taken to hospital, this has only ever happened once, and it was for a little over three hours just to do some tests,” a spokesperson for Gambaryan’s family told Cointelegraph.
Related: ‘Wealthiest US prisoner’: How did Binance founder CZ get there?
“Those test results took several months to be shared. The prison almost never complies with the judge’s rulings on these matters. No hospital was specified,” the representative said, adding:
“Several doctors including the prison’s own doctor have clearly reported that Tigran requires medical help that the prison cannot provide.”
Gambaryan’s bail rejection comes a few days after Binance’s founder and former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao was released from prison in the United States on Sept. 27. The ex-CEO served a four-month sentence related to Anti-Money Laundering violations instead of 36 months originally sought by the US Department of Justice.
Magazine: 10 crypto theories that missed as badly as ‘Peter Todd is Satoshi’