Reports have emerged that the detained Binance Holdings Limited executive, Tigran Gambaryan, is attempting to escape from Kuje Correctional Facility.
According to Punch, Gambaryan who is currently remanded in Kuje Correctional Facility, applied for a new United States of America passport, under the pretext that his seized passport was missing.
The Armenian-born Binance executive, who has both American and Armenian passports, told the US Embassy in Abuja that he lost his passport which is currently being held by the EFCC.
Credible anti-graft sources privy to the development but not authorised to speak, confirmed the report on Wednesday.
Following the development, the EFCC has urged the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to disregard Gambaryan’s bail application, while noting that the Armenian-American could flee from Nigeria like his Kenyan-British colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla who fled to Kenya.
A source, who is privy to the investigations said, “The second Binance executive, Tigran Gambaryan, who is currently remanded in Kuje prison, has planned to escape from the facility. He applied to the US embassy in Abuja to issue him a new Visa while lying that he lost his passport which was seized by the EFCC.”
Another source, who insisted on anonymity, noted that “Gambaryan could have escaped from Kuje if not for the fact that the US embassy flagged his request for a new passport. Fortunately, the US embassy immediately reached out to the EFFC, and the embassy was informed that he’s a criminal suspect whose case is currently in court for alleged money laundering – concealing the source of the $35,400, 000 generated as revenue by Binance in Nigeria knowing that the funds constituted proceeds of unlawful activity.”