Nigeria postpones Binance exec trial to May 17

The Nigerian court postponed the case against cryptocurrency exchange Binance and two of its executives.

The trial was expected to begin on May 2, but the judge reportedly postponed the hearing until May 17 to allow the legal team to review documents.

According to Reuters, the hearing in the case was postponed after Binance’s lawyer was not provided with documents necessary to advance the money laundering case involving the firm, compliance officer Tigran Gambaryan and regional manager Nadeem Anjarwalla.

“He was later arraigned and the judge adjourned the hearing to allow him to review more than 300 pages of documents before May 17.”

Reuters sources

Binance and its executives are accused of money laundering and engaging in unlicensed private financial activities.

In February, Nigerian law enforcement detained Gambaryan and Anjarwalla. In March, the latter escaped from custody and left the country illegally.

On April 8, the court rejected Gambaryan’s defense argument that he should not be held responsible for Binance’s operations in Nigeria. The discussion was about educational training that the senior manager conducted for local officials as a representative of the stock exchange.

Gambaryan pleaded not guilty and claimed his rights were violated. As a result of the meeting, he was placed in a high security detention center. The senior executive is accused of tax evasion and laundering $35 million.