By Detained Binance executive fled Nigeria using smuggled passport, FG confirms
Ghazali Ibrahim
The federal government of Nigeria through the Office of the National Security Adviser has confirmed that the detained Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, escaped from custody.
Zakari U. Mijinyawa, head of strategic communication department of NSA confirmed this in a statement on Monday that Mr. Nadeem Anjarwalla, who was a suspect in the probe into the activities of Binance, escaped on Friday.
He added that efforts were ongoing to arrest the suspect.
“The Office of the National Security Adviser confirms that Nadeem ANJARWALLA, a suspect in the ongoing criminal probe into the activities of Binance in Nigeria has escaped from lawful custody on Friday, March 22, 2024.
“Upon receiving this report, this office took immediate steps, in conjunction with relevant security agencies, MDAs, as well as the international community, to apprehend the suspect. Security agencies are working with Interpol for an international arrest warrant on the suspect,” part of the statement reads.
He also noted that a prior investigation shows that the detained Binance executive fled out of the country using a smuggled passport and aiders of his flee had been arrested.
It was gathered that the Federal Government of Nigeria has joined other governments around the world, to investigate investigate money laundering and terrorism financing transactions perpetrated on the Binance currency exchange platform.
“Until his escape, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who holds British and Kenyan nationalities and serving as Binance’s Africa regional manager, was being tried by Nigerian courts. The suspect escaped while under a 14-day remand order by a court in Nigeria. He was scheduled to appear before the court again on 4 April 2024” the statement added.
He urged Nigerians and the international community to help with information that could lead to the arrest of the suspect.
Mijinyawa said, “We urge the Nigerian public and the international community to provide whatever information they have that can assist law enforcement agencies to apprehend the suspect.”
It was reported that two executives of the company were arrested and detained on February 28 after they flew into the country as a result of a ban on their website.
Nigerian government has filed charges against Binance and its detained executives Nadeem Anjarwalla and Tigran Gambarya with tax evasion, an offence punishable under section 8 of the Value Added Tax of 1993, according to TechCabal report.
On March 12, 2024, the EFCC asked Binance to share data on its 100 top users in Nigeria as well as all transaction history for the past six months.
