Nigerian judge to hear money laundering case against Binance next week

By Camillus Eboh

ABUJA (Reuters) - A Nigerian judge will hear a money laundering case against crypto exchange Binance and two of its executives next week, more than a month earlier than planned, after defence lawyers asked for the date change, the prosecutor said on Monday.

Binance and the executives - U.S. citizen and head of financial crime compliance Tigan Gambaryan, and the exchange's British-Kenyan regional manager for Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla - have been charged with laundering more than $35 million.

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, is also facing accusations of tax evasion.

Both Binance and Gambaryan have denied the charges. Anjarwalla escaped from detention and left Nigeria before the trial started.

Gambaryan has been detained in Nigeria since February and his health has deteriorated in prison, his wife Yuki Gambaryan said this month.

She has appealed to the Nigerian government to drop the charges against her husband and release him on health grounds, and also asked the U.S. government to help secure his release.

The next court hearing, originally scheduled for Oct. 11, is set for Sept. 2.

Nigeria has blamed Binance for its currency weakness after cryptocurrency websites became the platforms of choice for trading the Nigerian naira as the country grappled with chronic dollar shortages and its currency fell to a record low.

Binance said in March it will stop all transactions and trading in naira after a country-wide crackdown on crypto exchanges that have been blamed by authorities for feeding a black market for foreign exchange.

(Reporting by Camillus Eboh; Editing by Chijioke Ohuocha and Andrew Heavens)