A money laundering suit against Binance and its officials has been temporarily postponed by a Federal High Court in Abuja.
The trial judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, adjourned the proceedings until April 8th after hearing arguments regarding the service of the charge on Binance Holdings Limited.
The defendants in the case, Binance Holdings Limited and Tigran Gambaryan, were scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday, but the proceedings were delayed due to an objection raised by Mark Mordi, the counsel for the second defendant.
Mordi argued that his client could not be arraigned because the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had not properly served the charge on Binance Holdings Limited. He emphasized that his client was neither an agent, director, nor representative of the company in the country and therefore could not accept service on their behalf.
However, the EFCC’s counsel, E.E. Iheanacho, disagreed with Mordi’s stance. Iheanacho contended that the second defendant acted as a representative of the first defendant in the country, and the charge had been properly served on him on behalf of the company. Despite this, the second defendant rejected the charge.
Iheanacho argued that it was not within the purview of the second defendant’s counsel to argue on behalf of the first defendant. He urged the court to enter a plea of not guilty for the first defendant and proceed with the ongoing proceedings.
Further details regarding the case will be provided in due course.