Court orders Abuja prison’s doctor in Binance executive’s money laundering trial

The Federal High Court, Abuja, ordered on Tuesday the arrest of an Abuja prison doctor accused of failing to produce the medical report on a detained executive of Binance Holdings Ltd, Tigran Gambaryan.

Mr Gambaryan, a United States citizen, has been held at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja since his arraignment on money laundering charges in April.

The trial court issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Abraham Ehizojie, a doctor at the prison clinic, after he failed to obey the court’s summons to appear in court with the defendant’s medical report on Tuesday.

The judge, Emeka Nwite, gave the order prompted by an application by Mr Gambaryan’s lawyer, Mark Mordi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the defendant, seated in a wheelchair, was whisked into the courtroom on a floor in the high-rise court complex earlier on Tuesday.

He and Binance, a cryptocurrency company, face five money laundering charges before the court. Binance is facing tax evasion charges in a separate case before another judge.

The top executive’s lawyer, Mr Mordi, had urged the court at previous proceedings to order the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), the body overseeing all Nigerian prisons, to release the medical report on Mr Gambaryan amid mounting concerns of his legal team and family about his ill health.

Mr Mordi also urged the court to summon Mr Ehizojie, the prison’s doctor, to explain why he allegedly refused to make Mr Gambaryan’s medical report available despite an earlier court order.

NAN reports that before making the application, on 23 May, Mr Gambaryan collapsed in the open court, a development his lawyers attributed to his failing health.

A few days later, on 27 May, the defence law firm Aluko & Oyebode raised the alarm that the cryptocurrency firm’s executive might die in Kuje Correctional Centre as a result of a worsening state of health.

In June, Mr Gambaryan’s wife similarly raised concerns over his health. She called on the United States government to pressure the Nigerian government to withdraw the charges against him and release him.

Delivering a ruling on the defence lawyer’s application on 5 July, the judge ordered the management of the NCoS to release the medical report on Mr Gambaryan on or before 16 July (today).

Build-up to order for doctor’s arrest

At Tuesday’s hearing, Mr Mordi told the judge that the Kuje prison’s doctor had yet to comply with the court order directing him to produce Mr Gambaryan’s medical report.

The judge then asked a prison official who brought Mr Gambaryan to court about the development.

The prison official said he received the court order and delivered it to the doctor on 9 July (last Tuesday).

“He is not here, and I expected him to be here,” he added.

The EFCC’s counsel, Ekene Iheanacho, told the judge that he expected the doctor to be in court.

Mr Mordi then urged the court to issue a bench warrant for the arrest of the medical doctor of the correctional centre.

The lawyer also asked the court to order an immediate hospital remand for his client for a thorough medical examination of him to know his actual state of health.

“My client came in here in a wheelchair. He has been complaining of back pain.

“We need to be careful of the life in our hands,” Mr Mordi said.

The prosecution lawyer, Mr Iheanacho, agreed that the defendant should be given adequate treatment but opposed the call to transfer Mr Gambaryan to a hospital for medical treatment.

After listening to the lawyers’ submissions, Mr Nwite expressed disappointment that a government institution could treat a court order with levity.

“I hereby make an order of bench warrant on the medical doctor at the Kuje Correctional Service to appear before this court,” he said.

He also ordered that Mr Gambaryan be taken to the Nizamiye Hospital for medical care for 24 hours, at any time of his choice, but under full security surveillance.

The judge set 11 and 18 October for further hearing.

Earlier, the Head, Payment Policy and Regulation Division at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olubukola Akinwunmi, testified as a prosecution witness.

Binance’s lawyer, Babatunde Fagbohunlu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), cross-examined him. Binance is the first defendant, while Mr Gambaryan is the second defendant.

Charges and bail

Mr Gambaryan and Binance are facing five counts of money laundering offences involving $35.4 million.

In May, the court denied the Binance executive’s bail application, adjudging him to be a flight risk.

The court’s decision came about two months after Mr Gambaryan’s colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, reportedly escaped from a pre-trial custody in Abuja in March.

(NAN)