Court summons CBN governor, officials in Binance money laundering case

A Federal High Court in Abuja has issued subpoenas to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Yemi Cardoso, and the Head of its Legal Services Department to appear before it on Monday, September 2, 2024, with specific documents related to the money laundering case against Binance Holdings Limited and its executives.

The court’s action comes as the trial of Binance USA’s Head of Financial Crime Compliance, Tigan Gambaryan, and the exchange’s British-Kenyan regional manager for Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla, continues.

The duo is facing charges of money laundering to the tune of $35 million brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Tigran is currently being held at the Kuje Correctional Facility, while Anjarwalla fled lawful custody on March 22, 2024.

Binance CEO Richard Teng has recently condemned Tigran’s ongoing detention, describing his six-month imprisonment in Nigeria as “inexplicable” and “unjust.”

Teng, in a statement on Thursday, revealed that Tigran, who suffers from a herniated disc, is in severe pain and unable to walk.

He alleged that despite Tigran’s critical condition, the Nigerian government has denied him access to adequate medical care, including a wheelchair, and has failed to comply with court orders to release his medical records.

Teng noted that Tigran is in severe pain and unable to walk due to a herniated disc, adding that “physical and mental conditions have deteriorated rapidly, with his situation being more dire than ever.”

Four days after Teng’s statement, the court then ordered the CBN officials to produce Certified True Copies of Excel spreadsheets showing exchange rate results from June 1 to August 16, 2024.

The court subpoenas to CBN read, “You or any other officer you may delegate are commanded in the name of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to attend before the Federal High Court, Abuja Judicial Division, presided over by the Honourable Justice E. Nwite, on the 2nd day of September 2024 at 9 o’clock in the forenoon, and from day to day until the above cause is tried, to bring with you and produce at the time and place mentioned the following documents.

“Certified True Copy of the Excel spreadsheet captioned ‘Export Exchange Rate Results’ published on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s website for the period from 1 June 2024 to 16 August 2024.”

In another separate subpoena to CBN’s Head, Legal Services Department, the court asks, “You or any other officer you may delegate are commanded in the name of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to attend before the Federal High Court, Abuja Judicial Division, presided over by the Honourable Justice E. Nwite, on the 2nd day of September 2024 at the hour of 9 o’clock in the forenoon, and from day to day until the above cause is tried, to bring with you and produce at the time and place mentioned the following documents.”