Court invites CBN governor over detained Binance executive

A Federal High Court in Abuja has subpoenaed the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Head of the Legal Services Department of the apex bank to appear before it with specific documents on Monday, September 2, this year.

The subpoena duces tecum was issued on the CBN officials in relation to the trial in the money laundering case brought against Binance Holdings Limited and its executives.

At the previous court sitting, the presiding judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, had adjourned the matter to October 11, but the defence counsel had approached the court for a date change, which the court granted by bringing the trial forward a month early.

Binance USA’s Head of Financial Crime Compliance, Tigran Gambaryan, and the exchange’s British-Kenyan regional manager for Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla, are facing money laundering charges to the tune of $35m brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were initially both detained in the custody of the Office of the National Security Adviser.

Anjarwalla, however, fled lawful custody on March 22, 2024, while his counterpart, Gambaryan, was moved from ONSA custody to EFCC custody and afterwards to Kuje Correctional Facility, where he is currently detained.

In the document titled Subpoena Duces Tecum, with charge number: FHC/ABCR/138/2024, between the Federal Republic of Nigeria versus Binance Holdings Limited and Tigran Gambaryan, the court asked the apex bank’s heads to appear before it or delegate someone to do so

It read, “The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria Plot 33, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Way, Central Business District, Abuja – FCT.

“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 a separate document but with similar wording, the court summons, “The Head, Legal Services Department, Central Bank of Nigeria, Plot 33, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Way, Central Business District, Abuja – FCT.

“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,” part of the subpoena read.