The Federal Government of Nigeria has confirmed that Nadeem Anjarwalla, one of the top executives of Binance detained in Nigeria over alleged manipulation of the foreign exchange escaped from custody on Friday, 22nd March 2024.
The Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) made this known in a statement issued by its Head of Strategic Communications, Zakari Mijinyawa.
Anjarwalla, who is facing a trial in Nigeria was under a 14-day remand order, to appear before the court again on 4 April 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,” Mijinyawa said.
He added that security agencies were working with Interpol to secure an international arrest warrant for Anjarwalla.
The officer responsible for his custody has been arrested while investigations have been launched to unravel the circumstances that caused the escape.
Meanwhile, preliminary investigations have revealed that Anjarwalla, who holds British and Kenyan nationalities and serves as Binance’s Africa regional manager, fled Nigeria using a smuggled passport.
The Federal Government has been investigating money allegations of laundering and terrorism financing transactions perpetrated on the Binance currency exchange platform.
“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,” the NSA office appealed.
Earlier, Premium Times reported that Anjarwalla escaped the Abuja detention house during Ramadan prayers through a Middle-East airline.
Recall that the federal government had earlier detained two Binance executives after they flew to Nigeria in response to the country’s recent crackdown on various cryptocurrency trading platforms and seized their passports.
In June 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) declared that the operation of Binance Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Binance, was illegal. The court also granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) an order to remand them for 14 days initially, which was later extended by another 14 days due to Binance’s refusal to comply with court orders.
Other charges against Binance Holdings Limited, Anjarwalla, and Gambaryan include accusations of failing to register with the Federal Inland Revenue Service and failing to pay relevant taxes, particularly value-added taxes, as required by law.
The Nigerian government said Binance offered taxable services to subscribers on their trading platform while failing to issue invoices to those subscribers to determine and pay their value-added taxes, adding that the offence is punishable under S.29 of the Value Added Tax Act of 1993 (as amended).
