Tigran Gambaryan, an executive of Binance Holdings Limited, who has been detained on money laundering, was brought into the Federal High Court in Abuja in a wheelchair on Tuesday morning.
Gambaryan, 40, has been detained in Nigeria since February, when he arrived with the British-Kenyan regional manager for Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla. Anjarwalla has since escaped.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Gambaryan entered the courtroom in a wheelchair wearing a black T-shirt and blue jeans. When called to the stand as the court proceeding was ongoing, he stood up from the wheelchair, showed signs of fatigue, and walked slowly into the dock.
During the court proceedings, Ogechi Ujam, the lawyer representing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), requested the court postpone the trial. He said the lead counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, was not present.
Babatunde Fagbohunlu (SAN), who represents Binance, Mark Mordi, and Gambaryan, unopposed this request. The presiding judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, granted the request and rescheduled the matter for noon.
On July 5, Justice Nwite ordered the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) to release Gambaryan’s medical certificate by July 16 after Gambaryan reportedly collapsed in open court on May 23 due to ill health.
Subsequently, on May 27, the defence law firm Aluko & Oyebode raised concerns about Gambaryan’s deteriorating health while in the Kuje Correctional Centre.
The order was made in response to an application by Mordi, Gambaryan’s lawyer, to summon the medical doctor at the Kuje Correctional Centre health facility to explain why he had allegedly not provided his client’s medical report despite an earlier court order.
