Local media reports confirmed that the Binance executive will remain in jail under the custody of Nigerian authorities ahead of his bail hearing.
Binance is a highly ranked crypto exchange, best known for its highly secured and convenient crypto trading services worldwide. Over the past few years, the situation for this exchange to operate services has not been much better. In 2023, Binance settled its case with a multi-billion dollar fine with US authorities and its co-founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) also resigned from his position as CEO as part of the settlement. Currently, Richard Teng is the CEO of this fair and he is trying to run the fair in his best way.
As we know a few months ago, Nigerian authorities arrested two Binance executives, namely US citizen Tigran Gambaryan and British-Kenyan Nadeem Anjarwalla.
In March, Anjarwalla reportedly escaped custody in Nigeria. So far he is out of reach and this act also acted as another major problem in the relationship between Binance and the Nigerian authorities.
According to local media reportsGambaryan’s detention in Nigeria’s Kuje Prison was extended until May 17 pending a judge’s bail decision.
It means that Gambaryan will remain in jail until May 17 and after that the approval or rejection of his bail will depend on the court hearing, for the purpose of debate on evidence and facts on the charges.
Before that, Gambaryan was supposed to go to court again on April 19, but that was delayed. Officially, they were supposed to discuss his bail on April 22. Gambaryan says they did nothing wrong and is accused by Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of non-payment of taxes and money laundering. They have a trial scheduled for May 2nd.
The Binance team has not officially spoken about this issue. Last week in Dubai, Binance CEO Richard Teng said they were in close discussions with Nigerian authorities on the matter to settle the case, but he failed to reveal any details about the case.
Binance vs Philippines
On April 23, 2024, the Philippine SEC body raised concerns with Binance over the sale of crypto securities in the country without proper registration and authorization.
Apple and Google have been ordered by authorities to remove the Binance app from their corresponding app stores for Filipino users.
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