The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday dismissed a fresh bail application filed by detained Binance Holdings Limited executive Tigran Gambaryan.
The judge. Emeka Nwite, in a ruling, dismissed the application on the grounds that it constituted an abuse of the judicial process.
Mr Nwite argued that Me Gambaryan's application cannot be accepted when he was still challenging the earlier bail decision before the Court of Appeal.
The judge, who noted that the defendant did not withdraw his pending appeal against the earlier ruling on his bail application before filing another motion, said such an act amounted to an abuse of the judicial process.
“It cannot be denied solely at this stage that this application is destined to fail,” he said.
He further argued that Mr. Gambaryan had failed to demonstrate in court that the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) did not have adequate facilities or had failed to address his ill health.
“Therefore, the facts before the court have shown that the Nigerian Correctional Service has the capacity to deal with the second accused,” he said.
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However, the judge ordered the NCoS to refer Mr. Gambaryan to any standard hospital in Abuja for a period of two to three days.
He later adjourned the matter to October 18, November 22 and November 25 for further trial.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nwite had set Friday for ruling on the second bail application due to his absence from court on Wednesday.
Gambaryan, who was denied bail by the trial court a few months ago, is being tried along with Binance, a cryptocurrency company, on five counts of money laundering and currency speculation involving up to $34.4 million. .
Binance faces tax evasion charges in a separate case before another judge.
The American citizen has been held at the Kuje Correctional Center in Abuja since his arraignment in April.
In May, the court denied the Binance executive's bail request, deeming him a flight risk.
The court's decision came about two months after Gambaryan's colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla reportedly escaped from remand in Abuja in March.
Gambaryan based his new bail application on health grounds.
The EFCC objection
Opposing his fresh bail application at the hearing on September 4, the EFCC told the trial judge, Mr Nwite, that Mr Gambaryan refused medical treatment at the State House Clinic.
EFCC Prosecutor Ekele Iheanacho told trial judge Emeka Nwite while opposing Mr Gambaryan's second bail application filed by his lawyer, Mark Mordi, a senior Nigerian lawyer.
Iheanacho, who drew the court's attention to the State House Clinic medical report, said Gambaryan's ill health was not as bad as it was portrayed.
He said the report showed that the defendant was dissatisfied with the medical care offered and refused it.
The lawyer opposed the bail petition and urged the court to dismiss the fresh application.
He explained that the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, wrote to the management of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) requesting Mr. Gambaryan's medical records.
He said the NSA received a response from the NCoS on August 28, with the attached report from Nizamiye Hospital, among others.
According to him, the report indicated that Mr. Gambaryan had been receiving adequate medical care from the NCoS and had been transferred to various hospitals, including the State House Clinic.
Iheanacho insisted that NCoS could take Gambaryan to any hospital in Nigeria, adding that the surgeons could not force the accused to undergo surgery without his consent.
He said Gambaryan “cannot suddenly become ill,” as is allegedly common among some suspects facing trial.
(YAYA)