(Bloomberg) -- A Nigerian court rejected a bail application on health grounds Friday for a Binance Holdings Ltd. executive standing trial on allegations of money laundering and currency manipulation.
Tigran Gambaryan, the head of financial-crime compliance at Binance whom US lawmakers say has been unjustly detained, has been held in the country since February. His lawyer has repeatedly raised his poor state of health and said that it requires surgery.
Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in the capital, Abuja, denied the bail application, noting that a person being ill “does not entitle them to leave custody, unless the continuous stay of the detainee possesses a harm to others and quarantine isn’t available.” Nwite also instructed the prison service to refer him to hospital for treatment.
His wife Yuki Gambaryan voiced resignation in reaction to the plea denial.
“He is entirely innocent but I am not surprised by this decision.” she said in a statement. “It is completely unjust to deny someone in Tigran’s condition the opportunity to seek appropriate medical help.”
Gambaryan’s lawyer, Mark Mordi, had pleaded that his client be granted bail to allow him to seek medical help for a herniated disk that was making walking difficult for him. Gambaryan, a US citizen, arrived at the court in a wheelchair and remained in it for the hearing.
“We are deeply disappointed by the court’s decision to deny Tigran bail, particularly given his deteriorating health,” Binance said in a statement. “He has been unlawfully detained for over 220 days.”
The faceoff between Africa’s most populous nation and the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange burst into public view in February, when Nigerian authorities detained Gambaryan and a colleague – who subsequently managed to escape – during a visit to Nigeria.
Gambaryan, a former agent for the US Internal Revenue Service, has been held in the Kuje correctional center in the capital Abuja since early April.
Binance took to social media to advocate for his release, arguing that his visit to Nigeria was not as a decision maker for the company. It also upped the stakes when Chief Executive Officer Richard Teng claimed in a blog that its team was asked for a “secret” payment to make its problems go away while they were in Abuja in January.
Nigeria rejects the allegation, which it called a tactic to divert attention away from Binance’s activities.
(Updates with Binance reaction in seventh paragraph.)
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