PANews reported on July 6 that according to Cointelegraph, citing local media reports, Nigeria's money laundering trial against Binance and its two executives took place on July 5. Olubukola Akinwunmi, deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, testified before Judge Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja, insisting that Binance's deposit and withdrawal transactions lacked the necessary licenses and regulatory approvals.
During the court session, Akinwunmi said Binance’s website misled Nigerians into using its platform to trade naira through Cashlink. The platform promotes free deposits and fixed-fee withdrawals, activities that are regulated by the central bank and are only available to licensed banks and financial institutions. Akinwunmi explained that Binance also facilitated currency exchanges between naira and the US dollar. He stressed that traders on Binance often use pseudonyms, violating laws that require the disclosure of real identities in financial transactions. Akinwunmi detailed Binance’s P2P trading process, where the buyer transfers naira to the seller’s bank account and confirms the transaction on the platform, prompting Binance to release crypto or fiat currency. Akinwunmi argued that this service is a regulated activity that Binance is not authorized to perform. After Akinwunmi testified, the court adjourned until July 16 to allow for cross-examination by the defendants.
Earlier news, Nigeria's money laundering trial against Binance and its two executives was postponed to July 5 after cross-examination by the first CSRC witness. Binance's head of criminal compliance, Tigran Gambaryan's health deteriorated during detention, and his family said that despite multiple court orders, the prison had not provided medical records of his only visit to the hospital. Gambaryan has been detained in Kuje Prison, Nigeria's most populous prison, since February, with members of the terrorist organization Boko Haram. Another accused executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, has escaped. Gambaryan's family said he suffered from double pneumonia and malaria during detention, his health deteriorated, and he developed symptoms of numbness in his feet and back pain. U.S. congressmen recently visited Gambaryan and urged the United States to take further action. Binance declined to comment.
