The Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, told Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court Abuja to deny the bail application of the detained Binance Holdings Limited executive, Tigran Gambaryan.
The anti-graft agency said Gambaryan will escape if granted bail.
On Tuesday, the prosecuting counsel for the EFCC, Emeka Iheanacho, noted that his co-defendant, Nadeem Anjarwalla, escaped from the custody of the National Security Adviser and is currently found in Kenya.
He stressed that it would be risky to grant Gambaryan bail.
Iheanacho told the court that the anti-graft agency uncovered an alleged plot by Gambaryan to obtain a new passport to facilitate his escape from Nigeria after the EFCC had seized his passport.
“This defendant attempted to procure another travelling document even when he knew his passport was in the state’s custody. He pretended as if the said passport was stolen.
“This court will take a grave risk to grant the defendant bail. This is also because he has no attachment to any community in Nigeria.
“The experience we have had with the man who escaped to Kenya while his United Kingdom passport is in Nigeria will certainly repeat itself if this defendant is granted bail.
“The 1st defendant (Binance) is operating virtually. The only thing we have to hold on to is this defendant. So, we pray, My Lord, to refuse bail to the defendant,” he said.
Meanwhile, while moving Gambaryan’s bail application, his lawyer, Mark Mordi (SAN), described his continued detention as “purely a state-sanctioned hostage taking,” saying EFCC was holding his client as leverage to obtain information from his employer.
The EFCC is prosecuting Gambaryan, his fleeing colleague, Anjarwalla, and Binance Holdings Limited on money laundering charges.
The anti-graft agency accused them of concealing the source of the $35,400 000 generated as revenue by Binance in Nigeria, knowing that the funds constituted proceeds of unlawful activity.