Court Rejects Fresh Bail Application By ‘Sick’ Binance Executive, Tigran Gambaryan

A bail application by the detained Binance executive, Tigran Gambaryan, was rejected on Friday by the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The bail was rejected by Justice Emeka Nwite, who presided over the case.

On September 4, 2024, the Federal High Court in Abuja heard arguments regarding Gambaryan’s new bail application between his lawyer, Mark Mordi, SAN, and counsel for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ekele Iheanacho.

It would be recalled that Mordi applied for the court to admit his client to bail on liberal terms, or alternatively, to admit him to bail for six weeks on the basis of ill health.

He submitted that his client is managing serious health challenges that cannot be adequately managed in Nigeria.

The lawyer presented exhibits before the court including medical reports, showing his client needs medical care, and strongly recommended surgery.

Gambaryan’s family also submitted that he “can no longer walk” due to a health condition involving a disk issue.

However, the EFCC contested these claims.

The anti-graft agency presented a medical report (as an exhibit before the court) from the State House Annex Clinic in Asokoro, Abuja, in which it claimed that the detained Binance executive, Tigran Gambaryan, refused prescribed medications and food when attended to by a neurosurgeon in July 2024.

Delivering judgement on the bail application on Friday, Justice Nwite held that it is not in dispute that Gambaryan’s first bail application, which concerns health, has been appealed.

Nwite stated that the current bail application amounts to an abuse of court process because Gambaryan has a pending appeal against the refusal of the first bail.

He added that there are no new facts regarding medical care in the fresh bail application, as the EFCC has shown that Nigerian authorities and hospitals are capable of treating Gambaryan.

He said that since an appeal has been filed, a lawyer is restrained from re-litigating, especially having not withdrawn that appeal.

“On this leg alone, this bail application is bound to fail,” he said.

Furthermore, Nwite said that based on medical records at his disposal, renowned Nigerian medical experts are already managing Gambaryan’s health.

However, the court ordered the Nigerian Correctional Service to refer Gambaryan to any standard hospital in Abuja under security supervision.

Gambaryan has been in detention since February over allegations of money laundering.