EFCC, Binance executive disagree on ill-health claim

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has objected to the health claims made by the Head of Financial Crime Compliance, Binance Holdings Limited, Tigran Gambaryan.

At the court session, yesterday, EFCC counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, filed a counter affidavit to the bail application by Mark Mordi, counsel for Gambaryan.
Mordi had informed the court of another bail application, which was filed on August 28, during the session seeking the release of his client on medical grounds.

In April, EFCC arraigned Binance, a cryptocurrency firm, and Tigran Gambaryan, over allegations bordering on money laundering. Gambaryan’s legal team and his family had previously raised the alarm that the Binance executive could die in the Kuje prison if his health continued to deteriorate.

During the hearing, Iheanacho said he had perused the defendant’s medical records and his health challenge “is not as serious” as it has been portrayed.

“My lord, I don’t want to go into detail about this issue. Ordinarily, the defendant had been living with this condition for the past 12 years before he came to Nigeria. It is not as if it is a new issue,” he said.

Responding, the EFCC lawyer, Gambaryan acknowledged that he had had the herniated disc condition for 12 years, but it had been untreated in prison.