The Federal government has dropped all charges against an executive member of the Binance Holdings board, Tigran Gambaryan, on health grounds.
Gambaryan, the second defendant in the suit, was facing criminal prosecution by the government through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alongside the company on a five-count charge, bordering on tax evasion, currency speculation, and money laundering to the tune of $34,400,000.
Gambaryan, who had been held in detention since April, 2024, was said to have suffered from deteriorating health since arrest, just as new evidence showed that he had superiors determining the financial direction for the firm.
During Wednesday’s proceeding at the Federal High Court Abuja, a counsel for the anti-graft agency announced the withdrawal of the charges against the Binance executive member before Justice Emeka Nwite.
He added that new investigations proved that Gambaryan, a United States citizen, was merely an employee of Binance, whose activities he was being prosecuted for.
Counsel to Gambaryan, Mark Mordi, agreed with the prosecution, saying that his client was not involved in the companyโs broader financial decisions.
The hearing is coming two days before the 25 October earlier scheduled as the return date by the trial judge in the open court last Friday.
Earlier, Nwite rejected his second bail application on 11 October, ruling that Gambaryanโs grounds of ill health were not sufficient to release him from detention.
The judge then fixed 18 October for the continuation of the trial but mister Gambaryan was absent on health grounds, according to the prison.
The judge then rescheduled the trial for 25 October, which appears to have now been overtaken by the event of Wednesdayโs unpublicized hearing.
