Binance’s head of financial crime compliance was denied bail for the second time on Friday as his money-laundering trial began in Nigeria, with a judge ruling that the prison where he is being held can meet his medical needs.

Tigran Gambaryan, an American citizen, has been detained in Nigeria since the end of February. He and Binance deny the allegations against him.

He asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to release him on medical grounds, claiming that he had to undergo surgery outside the prison and that his health was deteriorating.

“There is no evidence before this court that the Nigerian Prison Service cannot deal with the health problems of the accused,” said Judge Emeka Nwite.

Nwite also said that Gambaryan did not withdraw his appeal against the previous bail decision in May and therefore his latest request “amounts to an abuse of court process to release the accused on bail while the appeal is pending in the Court of Appeal.”

The judge adjourned the trial until October 18 after Gambaryan’s lawyer cross-examined two state witnesses.

Gambaryan’s wife, Yuki Gambaryan, said her husband should not be in custody because he never made any decisions at Binance and that she would continue to fight for his freedom.

“I just pray that when he is finally released, the damage he suffers is not permanent. I am exhausted and deeply disappointed,” she said in a statement.

Binance is separately facing allegations of tax evasion, which it denies.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)